Eugenia is orbited by two small moons. They have been named Petit-Prince and provisional designated S/2004(45)1 [(45) Eugenia I Petit-Prince and S/2004(45)1].
(45) Eugenia I Petit-Prince is the larger, outer moon of asteroid 45 Eugenia.
Discovery
Petit-Prince was discovered in 1 Nov 1998 by a group of astronomers (W. J. Merline, L. M. Close, C. Dumas, C. R. Chapman, F. Roddier, F. Menard, D. C. Slater, G. Duvert, J. C. Shelton, T. Morgan) at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
Petit-Prince was the first asteroid moon to be discovered with a ground-based telescope. Petit-Prince is much smaller than Eugenia, about 13 km in diameter, and takes five days to complete an orbit around it.
Naming
Initially, the moon received the provisional designation S/1998(45)1.
The discoverers chose the name in honour of Empress Eugénie's son, the Prince Imperial, because the moon orbits an asteroid named after his mother (45 Eugenia).
Napoléon, Prince Imperial, (Full name: Napoléon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph, 16 March 1856, Paris – 1 June 1879), Prince Imperial, was the only child of Emperor Napoleon III of France and his Empress consort Eugénie de Montijo. His early death in Africa sent shock waves throughout Europe.
However, they also intended an allusion to the children's book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, which is about a prince who lives on an asteroid (Asteroid B-612).
The Little Prince (French: ''Le Petit Prince''), first published in 1943, is a novella and the most famous work of the French aristocrat writer, poet and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944).
Stats
Diameter (estimated): 13 km
Semi-major axis: 1184 ± 12 km
Orbital Period: 4.77 days
Rotation period: ?
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