Linus

(22) Kalliope I Linus or more commonly, Linus is a small minor planet moon of the large main belt, M-type asteroid 22 Kalliope. It was discovered by astronomers Jean-Luc Margot and Michael E. Brown on August 29, 2001 with the Keck telescope, in Hawaii. It received the provisional designation S/2001 (22) 1, until it was permanently named. Although the naming proposal referred to the mythological Linus, son of the muse Calliope and the inventor of melody and rhythm, the name was also meant to honor Linus Torvalds, inventor of the Linux operating system kernel, and Linus van Pelt, a character in the Peanuts comic strip.
With an estimated 28 ± 2 km (17 ± 1 mi) diameter, Linus is very large compared to most asteroid moons, and would be a sizable asteroid by itself. The only known larger moons in the main belt are the smaller components of the double asteroids 617 Patroclus and 90 Antiope.
It has been estimated that Linus' orbit precesses at quite a rapid rate, making one cycle in several years. This is attributed primarily to the non-spherical shape of Kalliope. Linus's brightness has varied appreciably between observations, which may indicate that its shape is elongated.
Linus may have formed out of impact ejecta from a collision with Kalliope, or a fragment captured after disruption of a parent asteroid (a proto-Kalliope).
Category:Minor Planet Moon
Category:Main Belt
Category:Geoasteroid
Category:Named Objects
Category:Named Minor Planet Moons
Category:Numbered Objects
Category:Numbered Minor Planets