Binary asteroid

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A binary asteroid is a system of two asteroids orbiting their common center of mass, in analogy with binary stars. The first such system to be discovered was 243 Ida.

Binary asteroids where both bodies are roughly the same size are sometimes called "double asteroids" or "doublet asteroids". The most famous example is the 69230 Hermes system. Another example is the 90 Antiope system. Binary asteroids with a small satellite, called a "moonlet", have been more commonly observed (see 22 Kalliope, 45 Eugenia, 87 Sylvia, 107 Camilla, 121 Hermione, 130 Elektra, 283 Emma, 379 Huenna, etc.).

Paired impact craters, such as the Clearwater Lakes in Canada, are possibly the result of impact by binary asteroids.

[edit] See also

• asteroid moon
• List of asteroid moons
• Yarkovsky-O'Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack effect (YORP effect)

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