NASA’s Lucy mission provides 9th asteroid to its record of points of interest
NASA’s Lucy probe has received a ninth asteroid desired destination for its 12-12 months mission.
Lucy introduced in Oct 2021 and is certain for the Trojan asteroids, which, thanks to the pull of Jupiter’s enormous gravity, trip in the gasoline giant’s orbit ahead of and driving the behemoth. In 2027, Lucy will become the initially human-created item to fly earlier one particular of these asteroids.
The mission was developed to zoom past a major-belt asteroid then swing by a challenging itinerary of Trojan asteroids. And now, researchers have determined that one of Lucy‘s first focus on asteroids has a companion: one more, tiny asteroid that orbits it and that Lucy will also be ready to notice, Spaceflight Now report (opens in new tab)s.
Connected: Satisfy the 8 asteroids NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will visit
Lucy’s 3rd goal is an asteroid termed Polymele, a gourd-formed room rock which is around 13 miles (21 kilometers) from stop to close. Polymele’s shape is strange for an asteroid, suggesting that it is really a remnant from the incredibly early photo voltaic method — one particular that has managed to avoid collisions so far.
In March, astronomers observing Polymele in preparation for Lucy’s eventual visit viewed the asteroid go in front of a star, blocking that star’s distant mild. In the procedure, they uncovered some thing very curious: a small companion place rock.
“We obtained a truly good projected shape of Polymele, and then we had been pretty amazed to detect an object about 200 kilometers (120 miles) absent from Polymele,” Hal Levison, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute and Lucy’s principal investigator, mentioned in a presentation past week, according to Spaceflight Now (opens in new tab). “It is 5 kilometers (3 miles) in diameter, and it truly is sitting almost particularly in Polymele’s equatorial aircraft.”
That companion does not have a identify and will not likely have 1 until finally researchers know far more about the asteroid’s exact orbit, which might not come about until eventually Lucy‘s check out. But some astronomers have jokingly started calling it Shaun soon after the character in the animation “Shaun the Sheep.”
Shaun is the next house rock to be included to the Lucy mission’s itinerary: In 2020, scientists working on the mission identified that goal asteroid Eurybates also offers a tiny companion.
Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Fb.
NASA’s Lucy probe has received a ninth asteroid desired destination for its 12-12 months mission.
Lucy introduced in Oct 2021 and is certain for the Trojan asteroids, which, thanks to the pull of Jupiter’s enormous gravity, trip in the gasoline giant’s orbit ahead of and driving the behemoth. In 2027, Lucy will become the initially human-created item to fly earlier one particular of these asteroids.
The mission was developed to zoom past a major-belt asteroid then swing by a challenging itinerary of Trojan asteroids. And now, researchers have determined that one of Lucy‘s first focus on asteroids has a companion: one more, tiny asteroid that orbits it and that Lucy will also be ready to notice, Spaceflight Now report (opens in new tab)s.
Connected: Satisfy the 8 asteroids NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will visit
Lucy’s 3rd goal is an asteroid termed Polymele, a gourd-formed room rock which is around 13 miles (21 kilometers) from stop to close. Polymele’s shape is strange for an asteroid, suggesting that it is really a remnant from the incredibly early photo voltaic method — one particular that has managed to avoid collisions so far.
In March, astronomers observing Polymele in preparation for Lucy’s eventual visit viewed the asteroid go in front of a star, blocking that star’s distant mild. In the procedure, they uncovered some thing very curious: a small companion place rock.
“We obtained a truly good projected shape of Polymele, and then we had been pretty amazed to detect an object about 200 kilometers (120 miles) absent from Polymele,” Hal Levison, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute and Lucy’s principal investigator, mentioned in a presentation past week, according to Spaceflight Now (opens in new tab). “It is 5 kilometers (3 miles) in diameter, and it truly is sitting almost particularly in Polymele’s equatorial aircraft.”
That companion does not have a identify and will not likely have 1 until finally researchers know far more about the asteroid’s exact orbit, which might not come about until eventually Lucy‘s check out. But some astronomers have jokingly started calling it Shaun soon after the character in the animation “Shaun the Sheep.”
Shaun is the next house rock to be included to the Lucy mission’s itinerary: In 2020, scientists working on the mission identified that goal asteroid Eurybates also offers a tiny companion.
Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Fb.