NASA's Lucy spacecraft discovered a second asteroid during its Dinkinesh flyby on November 1, 2023, revealing that Dinkinesh is a binary pair.
Preliminary analysis estimates the larger body to be approximately 0.5 miles at its widest, while the smaller one is about 0.15 miles in size.
The Lucy mission was selected by NASA in 2017 and was launched on October 16, 2021.
NASA's Lucy spacecraft, launched in 2021, has made a surprising discovery during its mission to explore a diverse population of small bodies known as the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. On November 1, 2023, during its Dinkinesh flyby, Lucy discovered a second asteroid, revealing that the small main belt asteroid Dinkinesh is actually a binary pair. This unexpected finding has added a new dimension to the mission, which was initially planned to fly by seven asteroids.
The Lucy mission was selected by NASA in 2017 from 28 proposals and was launched on October 16, 2021. The spacecraft is equipped with a color imager, infrared spectrometer, high-resolution camera, and thermal-infrared camera to collect data about Dinkinesh and other asteroids. The Lucy team had speculated about Dinkinesh being a binary system due to changes in the asteroid's brightness observed by Lucy's instruments.
Preliminary analysis estimates the larger body to be approximately 0.5 miles at its widest, while the smaller one is about 0.15 miles in size. The smaller asteroid appears to be orbiting the larger one. This discovery was unexpected as NASA was using Dinkinesh to test Lucy's instruments. NASA plans to use the data from the flyby to prepare for the next close-up look at an asteroid, the main belt asteroid Donaldjohanson, in 2025.
Over its 12-year mission, Lucy will explore a record-breaking number of asteroids, including the Trojan asteroids that follow Jupiter's orbit around the sun. These asteroids are believed to be remnants of our solar system's formation.