702 Alauda is a large binary minor planet

Minor planet

An asteroid group or minor-planet group is a population of minor planets that have a share broadly similar orbits. Members are generally unrelated to each other, unlike in an asteroid family, which often results from the break-up of a single asteroid...

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Alauda is 194.73 km in diameter. Since it is a binary system, Rojo and Margot (2010) have estimated it to have a mass of 6.06 kg with a density of 1.57 g/cm³.

Satellite

(702) Alauda was discovered to have a 5.5 km satellite from observations using adaptive-optics imaging

Adaptive optics

Adaptive optics is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effect of wavefront distortions. It is used in astronomical telescopes and laser communication systems to remove the effects of atmospheric distortion, and in retinal imaging systems to reduce the...

 with the European Southern Observatory

European Southern Observatory

The European Southern Observatory is an intergovernmental research organisation for astronomy, supported by fifteen countries...

 (ESO) 8-m Very Large Telescope

Very Large Telescope

The Very Large Telescope is a telescope operated by the European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT consists of four individual telescopes, each with a primary mirror 8.2m across, which are generally used separately but can be used together to...

 (VLT) on Cerro Paranal, Chile. The satellite had a projected separation of 900 km from the primary. Alauda has been identified as the largest member of a dynamical family

Collisional family

In astronomy, a collisional family is a group of objects that are thought to have a common origin in an impact . They have similar compositions, and most share similar orbital elements....

. The satellite may be the result of the collision that created the asteroid family

Asteroid family

An asteroid family is a population of asteroids that share similar proper orbital elements, such as semimajor axis, eccentricity, and orbital inclination. The members of the families are thought to be fragments of past asteroid collisions...

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On October 12, 2011, the satellite was named Pichi üñëm, which means "little bird" in the Mapuche language.

Other members of this family include: 581 Tauntonia

581 Tauntonia

-External links:*...

, 1101 Clematis

1101 Clematis

1101 Clematis is a minor planet orbiting the Sun. Initially it received the designation 1928 SJ. It was named for the clematis flower.-External links:*...

, 1838 Ursa

1838 Ursa

1838 Ursa is an outer main-belt asteroid discovered on October 20, 1971 by P. Wild at Zimmerwald.- External links :*...

, 3139 Shantou

3139 Shantou

3139 Shantou is a main-belt asteroid discovered on November 11, 1980 by Purple Mountain Observatory at Nanking.- External links :*...

, 3325 TARDIS

3325 TARDIS

3325 TARDIS is a main belt asteroid that measures 29.66 km in diameter. It was discovered by Brian A. Skiff in May, 1984 at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. It is named after the TARDIS, the time travel vehicle used by the Doctor in the British science fiction television series...

, 4368 Pillmore

4368 Pillmore

4368 Pillmore is a large asteroid named after Charles L. Pillmore. The name was assigned by Eugene Shoemaker....

, 5360 Rozhdestvenskij

5360 Rozhdestvenskij

5360 Rozhdestvenskij is an outer main-belt asteroid discovered on November 8, 1975 by N. S. Chernykh at Nauchnyj.- External links :*...

, 5815 Shinsengumi

5815 Shinsengumi

5815 Shinsengumi is a main-belt asteroid discovered on January 3, 1989 by T. Seki at Geisei.- External links :*...

, and many others.

Occultation

Alauda has been observed to occult stars on several occasions, providing important information on its size and shape. It produced occultations on 2001-07-12 and 2004-04-21. It may have occulted an apparent magnitude

Apparent magnitude

The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...

 9.5 star in the constellation of Gemini

Gemini (constellation)

Gemini is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It was one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations today. Its name is Latin for "twins", and it is associated with the twins Castor and Pollux in Greek mythology...

on 2009-10-17 at 08:18 UT. This event should have been visible from Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile.

External links

• Orbital simulation from JPL (Java) / Ephemeris