Thursday, August 11, 2005
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First Asteroid Trio Discovered

By Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer posted:
10 August 2005

An asteroid known to astronomers for more than a century has now been found to harbor two small satellites.

It is the first asteroid trio ever discovered.

And there may be more than three.

The main asteroid, named 87 Sylvia, is one of the largest known to orbit the Sun in the main asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. It is potato-shaped, about 175 miles (280 kilometers) in diameter and 235 miles (380 kilometers) long. It was discovered in 1866.

The first moon was found four years ago and the second one was announced today.

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