binary asteroids
-
Trojan Asteroids Loom Closer as NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Fires Up Engine for First Time
The asteroid-sleuthing probe is transitioning from its orbit around the Sun to one beyond the orbit of Jupiter.
-
NASA’s Lucy Ready to Explore Its First Asteroid This Week
The probe will conduct a close flyby of asteroid Dinkinesh to test its instruments as it steadily makes its way towards Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids.
-
Newly Discovered ‘Asteroid’ Is Far Freakier Than Astronomers Expected
When is an asteroid not an asteroid? When it’s a binary pair. Turns out that an asteroid discovered late last year is actually two gravitationally-bound objects in orbit around each other. But this particular duo, dubbed 2017 YE5, belongs to an exceptionally rare class of near-Earth objects.