In November of last year, Digital look A study was released that found that the Dinkenish asteroid, one of the research targets of NASA’s Lucy probe, has a small moon. Or rather, actually two, since the rock bound by gravity is a binary contact object.
Now, this research has been officially recognized by publication in the journal nature Wednesday (29).
Dinkenish’s binary moon, called Salam, consists of two lobes that are roughly the same size, and not much smaller than the parent body. While the diameter of the Dinkenesh is 720 metres, the diameter of the Salam lobes is 210 and 230 metres. Salam is located just 3.1 km from Dinkenish and completes its orbit around this asteroid every 52.7 hours.
Although the team is unsure whether this specific scenario explains Slam’s formation, this research paves the way for comparing this small binary system with other similar systems. A relevant example is Didymos, which belongs to the 15% of near-Earth asteroids that have a moon.
Moons may be a common feature of asteroids
“I’m particularly excited to compare the Didymos binary system with this one, especially since they appear to share many similarities, such as size, general shape and perhaps composition, despite being in very different regions of the solar system,” Professor Jessica Sunshine of the system said. Solar University of Maryland, in A statement.
Sunshine participated in NASA’s DART mission, which launched a spacecraft toward the moon Demorphos, from the asteroid Didymos, to shift its orbit. This test showed that humanity has the ability to change the path of an asteroid through kinetic impact.
The discovery that moons may be a common feature among asteroids in diverse environments provides valuable insights into the evolution of these celestial bodies. “The Didymos binary system is located in a near-Earth environment, while the Dinkenish system is located much farther away, in the main asteroid belt,” Sunshine said. “They have very different characteristics, but we think they may have gone through similar processes to become what they are today.”
The Lucy probe, named after a group of Australopithecus fossils of the same name, is studying 11 different asteroids in the solar system. Just like fossils, these asteroids represent traces of the early solar system, and understanding them is key to understanding planetary formation.
Dinkenesh is the Ethiopian name for the Lucy fossil and means “You are wonderful.” “Salam” is the name of another Australopithecus fossil and means “peace.” Dinkenish and Salam are the first two of 11 asteroids that Lucy will explore.
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The spacecraft will return to Earth, and is scheduled to arrive in December. When that happens, it will use our planet’s gravity to gain speed and return to the main asteroid belt, where it will study the asteroid Donald Johansson, in April 2025.
It will then move beyond the main belt to reach the Trojan asteroids in Jupiter’s orbit in 2027.
“Understanding how planets like Earth form involves understanding the behavior of objects when they collide and the need to know their resistance,” explained Hal Levison, a scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and the principal investigator on the Lucy mission. “The planets formed when small objects orbiting the Sun collided. Whether these objects break up or clump together after the collision depends largely on their strength and internal structure.
Lucy continues her mission, providing an unprecedented look at the beginnings of our solar system and helping to unravel the secrets of planetary formation. With each new discovery, we learn more about the history and evolution of asteroids and, thus, the origins of planets, including Earth.
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