Triple-Lobed Nysa Reshapes Our View of How Planets Form

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope and SHARK-VIS, with adaptive optics, reveal that asteroid 44 Nysa in the inner belt has a three-lobed structure connected by two necks—unlike the more common bilobed shapes—about 80 km across. Two formation scenarios are proposed: a single object heavily deformed by collisions or an assembly of three smaller bodies that merged. If confirmed, Nysa’s unusual form could offer new clues about asteroid and planetary formation and the early history of the solar system.