41 Daphne

41 Daphne is a large asteroid from the asteroid belt.<ref name=jpldata/> It is a dark-surfaced body 174 km in diameter is probably composed of primitive carbonaceous chondrites. The spectra of the asteroid displays evidence of aqueous alteration.<ref name=Fornasier1999/> It was discovered by H. Goldschmidt on May 22, 1856, and named after Daphne, the nymph in Greek mythology who was turned into a laurel tree. Incorrect orbital calculations initially resulted in 56 Melete being mistaken for a second sighting of Daphne. Daphne was not sighted again until August 31, 1862.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The orbit of 41 Daphne places it in a 9:22 mean motion resonance with the planet Mars. The computed Lyapunov time for this asteroid is 14,000 years, indicating that it occupies a chaotic orbit that will change randomly over time because of gravitational perturbations of the planets.<ref name="Sidlichovsky"/>

In 1999, Daphne occulted three stars, and on July 2, 1999, produced eleven chords indicating an ellipsoid of 213×160 km.<ref name=euraster/> Daphnean lightcurves also suggest that the asteroid is irregular in shape. Daphne was observed by Arecibo radar in April 2008.<ref name="Arecibo"/><ref name="detected"/> Based upon radar data, the near surface solid density of the asteroid is 2.4Template:±Template:Nowrap.<ref name="Magri2001"/>

Satellite

Template:Infobox planet 41 Daphne has at least one satellite, named Peneius (provisionally S/2008 (41) 1).<ref name="MPEC2019-E58"/><ref name="IAUC8930"/> It was identified on March 28, 2008, and has a projected separation of 443 km, an orbital period of approximately 1.1 days,<ref name=Conrad2008/> and an estimated diameter of less than 2 km. If these preliminary observations hold up, this binary system has the most extreme size ratio known.<ref name="ACM2008"/> In Greek myth, Pēneios is the god of the river of that name, and father of Daphne.

External links

• Asteroids with Satellites, Robert Johnston, johnstonsarchive.net
• Template:AstDys
• Template:JPL small body