Actaea (moon)
Actaea, officially (120347) Salacia I Actaea, is a natural satellite of the classical Kuiper belt planetoid 120347 Salacia. Its diameter is estimated 300 km (190 mi), which is approximately one-third the diameter of Salacia; thus, Salacia and Actaea are viewed by William Grundy et al. to be a binary system. Assuming that the following size estimates are correct, Actaea is about the sixth-biggest known moon of a trans-Neptunian object, after Charon (1212 km), Dysnomia (700 km), Vanth (443 km), Ilmarë (326 km) and Hiʻiaka (320 km), but possibly also Hiisi (250 km).
Salacia and its moon Actaea, imaged by the Keck telescope on 3 August 2010. Actaea is the fainter object to the left of Salacia. | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Keith S. Noll, Harold F. Levison, Denise C. Stephen, William M. Grundy |
| Discovery date | 21 July 2006 |
| Designations | |
Designation | Salacia I |
| Pronunciation | /ækˈtiːə/ |
Alternative names | S/2006 (120347) 1 |
| Adjectives | Actaean /ækˈtiːən/ |
| Orbital characteristics | |
Semi-major axis | 5724±27 km |
| Eccentricity | 0.0098±0.0038 |
Orbital period (sidereal) | 5.493882±0.000023 days |
| Inclination | 23.59±0.36° |
Longitude of ascending node | 45.2±1.6° |
| 134±23° | |
| Satellite of | Salacia |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 284±10 km |
| Mass | ≈ 20×1018 kg |
| Albedo | ≈ 0.035 +0.010/−0.007 |
Spectral type | V–I = 0.89±0.02 (Actaea) |
| 1.9 mag | |
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.