Binary asteroid (31) Euphrosyne: Ice-rich and nearly spherical
B. Yang, J. Hanus, B. Carry, P. Vernazza, M. Broz, F. Vachier, N., Rambaux, M. Marsset, O. Chrenko, P. Sevecek, M. Viikinkoski, E. Jehin, M., Ferrais, E. Podlewska Gaca, A. Drouard, F. Marchis, M. Birlan, Z., Benkhaldoun, J. Berthier, P. Bartczak, C. Dumas, G. Dudzinski

TL;DR
This study uses adaptive optics imaging to reveal that asteroid (31) Euphrosyne is nearly spherical, ice-rich, and has a satellite, providing insights into its shape, density, and formation history in the main belt.
Contribution
It presents the first detailed 3D shape model of Euphrosyne, detects its satellite, and analyzes its shape in relation to hydrostatic equilibrium, highlighting its icy composition and reaccumulation origin.
Findings
Euphrosyne has a diameter of approximately 268 km.
It possesses a satellite about 4 km across in a circular orbit.
The asteroid's density suggests a large ice fraction in its interior.
Abstract
Asteroid (31) Euphrosyne is one of the biggest objects in the asteroid main belt and the Euphrosyne family occupies a highly inclined region in the outer main belt and contains a remarkably large number of members, which is interpreted as an outcome of a disruptive cratering event. The goals of this adaptive-optics imaging study were threefold: to characterize the shape of Euphrosyne, to constrain its density, and to search for the large craters that may be associated with the family formation event. We obtained disk-resolved images of Euphrosyne using SPHERE/ZIMPOL at ESO's 8.2-m VLT as part of our large program (ID: 199.C-0074, PI: Vernazza). We reconstructed its 3D-shape using the adam shape modeling algorithm based on the SPHERE images and the available lightcurves of this asteroid. We analyzed the dynamics of the satellite with the genoid meta-heuristic algorithm. Finally, we…
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