(42355) Typhon

Template: Infobox Asteroid / Maintenance / Error 2

( 42355 ) Typhon, also known by the provisional designation 2002 CR46, is an asteroid from the class of centaurs, which was discovered on 5 February 2002 by the NEAT program at Palomar Observatory. On 15 February 2006, the discovery of a moon was announced - it is, this is the first discovery of a binary system in the class of Centaurs.

Typhon has a diameter of about 134 km, an absolute magnitude of 7.20 mag and a geometric albedo of 0.1. The perihelion of the asteroid is located at 17.53 AE and thus within the Uranus -Bahn, the aphelion, however, at 58.6 AU, far beyond the orbit of Pluto - 2002 CR46 therefore crosses during his 234.88 -year circulation period, orbits of two planets. About its mass is currently not yet known.

Moon

( 42355 ) Typhon I ( Echidna ) ( provisional designation S/2006 ( 42355 ) 1) was after a figure in Greek mythology - Echidna - named. The moon was discovered as part of a program to determine the frequency of multiple systems in the outer solar system with the HST camera of the Hubble Space Telescope and announced to the public on 15 February 2006. It has a diameter of 78 ± 8 km, was discovered at a distance of 1300 km. Path data and mass could not yet be determined.

Consequences of the discovery of the moon

The centaurs are frequent close encounters with the major planets exposed, so far, the survival probability of multiple systems in this class asteroids was considered low. The moon has been found in a study of only 8 centaurs - the actual frequency of multiple systems can, however, only by further theoretical analysis and a larger data base through the accurate observation of other centaurs are determined.

The current theories of comet formation seen in the Centaurs of the outer planets Uranus and Neptune, the precursor of the short-period comets. The discovery of a satellite in this class asteroids therefore raises the question of possible satellites of comets - but so far, no " comet moon " was discovered. If the frequency of multiple systems among the Centaurs should actually be greater than previously thought, as is to be expected even under the ( short-period ) comets, a significant proportion of multiple systems.

Name

The asteroid was named after the giant Typhon from Greek mythology.

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