Juicy new details emerge about an asteroid NASA's Lucy spacecraft flew by last year
Data from the Lucy spacecraft's flyby shows that asteroid Donaldjohanson is a peanut-shaped, double-lobed rock. The asteroid exhibits a complex rotation, wobbling on two axes as it moves through space. Scientists believe its structure and composition point to a violent origin involving a catastrophic collision.
What changed
New analysis of the Lucy flyby data reveals the asteroid's specific rotation patterns and chemical history.
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NASA's Lucy Spacecraft Reveals Details of Asteroid Donaldjohanson
confidence 90%Data from the Lucy spacecraft's flyby shows that asteroid Donaldjohanson is a peanut-shaped, double-lobed rock. The asteroid exhibits a complex rotation, wobbling on two axes as it moves through space. Scientists believe its structure and composition point to a violent origin involving a catastrophic collision.
What's confirmed:
- Asteroid Donaldjohanson is peanut-shaped and double-lobed.
- The asteroid is 155 million years old.
- Donaldjohanson rotates end over end once every 10.5 Earth days and wobbles around its horizontal axis every 26.5 days.
- The findings regarding its rotation were published in the journal Science.
- The asteroid is a contact binary.
Still unconfirmed:
- The asteroid is likely the byproduct of a catastrophic collision millions of years ago.
- Evidence of chemical alteration by liquid water exists on the asteroid, which formed further from the sun before being shoved inwards.