NASA's Lucy Mission Discovers Double Moon Orbiting 'Dinky' Asteroid
TL;DR
NASA's Lucy spacecraft discovered that the asteroid Dinkinesh, also known as "Dinky," has an ultra-rare double moon named Selam, which is a contact binary. This discovery was made during a flyby on November 1, 2023, and researchers have proposed a model explaining Selam's formation. The findings, published in Nature, provide new insights into asteroid formation and could help understand planetary formation.
- 'Dinky' asteroid imaged by NASA has ultra-rare double moon, study confirms Livescience.com
- A contact binary satellite of the asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh Nature.com
- Moon orbiting 'Dinky' asteroid is actually two tiny moons stuck together Phys.org
- NASA's Lucy Mission Reveals Asteroid's Strange Moon - Sky & Telescope Sky & Telescope
- NASA Lucy Images Reveal Asteroid Dinkinesh to be Surprisingly Complex NASA
Want the full story? Read the original reporting
Read on Livescience.com