Lucy’s flyby observations confirmed that Dinkinesh is comparable in form to near-Earth asteroids Bennu and Ryugu, that are each recognized to be rubble pile asteroids (free collections of rocks and mud held collectively by gravity, quite than stable objects), suggesting that it may need the identical construction. This gives researchers an opportunity to check an analogous form of asteroid in a special a part of the Photo voltaic System, and will additionally make clear whether or not rubble pile asteroids change as soon as they depart the principle belt and enter near-Earth house.
The Dinkinesh system additionally is similar to a different near-Earth pair: asteroid Didymos and its moonlet Dimorphos, which have been impacted by the DART spacecraft in 2022. Though the contact binary satellite tv for pc is totally different from the lone Dimorphos, this nonetheless provides scientists the prospect to check the character of binary asteroids in several environments.
Dinkinesh and its moonlets are the smallest main-belt asteroids ever visited by a spacecraft. Smaller asteroids have been explored by spacecraft, however solely near-Earth ones.
What’s subsequent for Lucy
Lucy is already zipping via house towards its subsequent goal, the principle belt asteroid Donaldjohanson (named after the paleontologist who co-discovered the Lucy fossil), which it should attain in 2025. This flyby is meant to be one other check of the Terminal Monitoring System to arrange for encounters with the mission’s essential targets, the Jupiter Trojan asteroids, beginning in 2027. However because the Dinkinesh flyby has proved, even a expertise check can yield thrilling insights into the our bodies of our Photo voltaic System.
