NASA's Lucy Spacecraft Discovers 2nd Asteroid During Dinkinesh Flyby.

NASA's Lucy Spacecraft Discovers 2nd Asteroid During Dinkinesh Flyby.


On November 1, 2023, NASA's Lucy spacecraft made a surprise discovery during its flyby of the asteroid Dinkinesh. The spacecraft's images revealed that Dinkinesh is actually a binary asteroid, meaning that it consists of two asteroids orbiting each other.

"Dinkinesh really did live up to its name; this is marvelous," said Hal Levison, Lucy's principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "When Lucy was originally selected for flight, we planned to fly by seven asteroids. Now, with this discovery, we're getting a bonus asteroid!"

The two asteroids in the Dinkinesh binary are estimated to be about 0.5 miles (790 meters) and 0.15 miles (220 meters) wide, respectively. The smaller asteroid is orbiting the larger asteroid at a distance of about 1,300 miles (2,100 kilometers).

Lucy's flyby of Dinkinesh was its first encounter with an asteroid. The spacecraft is still under commissioning, but the flyby was a success and provided valuable data that will help scientists to better understand binary asteroids.

Binary asteroids are thought to be common in the asteroid belt, but they are difficult to detect because they often appear as a single point of light in telescopes. Lucy's high-resolution cameras and its ability to get close to asteroids will allow scientists to study binary asteroids in more detail.

Lucy's mission is to study the Trojan asteroids, a group of asteroids that orbit the Sun in the same path as Jupiter. However, the spacecraft is also flying by several main belt asteroids along the way. The discovery of the binary asteroid Dinkinesh is a reminder that there is still much to learn about the asteroid belt.

"This is an exciting discovery for the Lucy mission," said Levison. "It shows that Lucy is well-suited for studying asteroids of all types, and it gives us a glimpse of the many surprises that may await us as we continue our journey through the asteroid belt."



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