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A contact binary satellite of the asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh

Author

Listed:
  • Harold F. Levison

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Simone Marchi

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Keith S. Noll

    (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

  • John R. Spencer

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Thomas S. Statler

    (NASA Headquarters)

  • James F. Bell

    (Arizona State University)

  • Edward B. Bierhaus

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Richard Binzel

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • William F. Bottke

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Daniel Britt

    (University of Central Florida)

  • Michael E. Brown

    (California Institute of Technology)

  • Marc W. Buie

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Philip R. Christensen

    (Arizona State University)

  • Neil Dello Russo

    (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)

  • Joshua P. Emery

    (Northern Arizona University)

  • William M. Grundy

    (Northern Arizona University
    Lowell Observatory)

  • Matthias Hahn

    (Rheinisches Institut für Umweltforschung an der Universität zu Köln)

  • Victoria E. Hamilton

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Carly Howett

    (University of Oxford)

  • Hannah Kaplan

    (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

  • Katherine Kretke

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Tod R. Lauer

    (NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory)

  • Claudia Manzoni

    (London Stereoscopic Company)

  • Raphael Marschall

    (CNRS, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Laboratoire J.-L. Lagrange)

  • Audrey C. Martin

    (University of Central Florida)

  • Brian H. May

    (London Stereoscopic Company)

  • Stefano Mottola

    (DLR Institute of Planetary Research)

  • Catherine B. Olkin

    (Muon Space)

  • Martin Pätzold

    (Rheinisches Institut für Umweltforschung an der Universität zu Köln)

  • Joel Wm. Parker

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Simon Porter

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Frank Preusker

    (DLR Institute of Planetary Research)

  • Silvia Protopapa

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Dennis C. Reuter

    (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

  • Stuart J. Robbins

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Julien Salmon

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Amy A. Simon

    (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

  • S. Alan Stern

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Jessica M. Sunshine

    (University of Maryland)

  • Ian Wong

    (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
    American University)

  • Harold A. Weaver

    (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)

  • Coralie Adam

    (KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice)

  • Shanti Ancheta

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • John Andrews

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Saadat Anwar

    (Arizona State University)

  • Olivier S. Barnouin

    (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)

  • Matthew Beasley

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Kevin E. Berry

    (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

  • Emma Birath

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Bryce Bolin

    (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

  • Mark Booco

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Rich Burns

    (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

  • Pam Campbell

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Russell Carpenter

    (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

  • Katherine Crombie

    (Indigo Information Services)

  • Mark Effertz

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Emily Eifert

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Caroline Ellis

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Preston Faiks

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Joel Fischetti

    (KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice)

  • Paul Fleming

    (Red Canyon Software)

  • Kristen Francis

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Ray Franco

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Sandy Freund

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Claire Gallagher

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Jeroen Geeraert

    (KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice)

  • Caden Gobat

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Donovan Gorgas

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Chris Granat

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Sheila Gray

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Patrick Haas

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Ann Harch

    (Cornell University)

  • Katie Hegedus

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Chris Isabelle

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Bill Jackson

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Taylor Jacob

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Sherry Jennings

    (Marshall Space Flight Center)

  • David Kaufmann

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Brian A. Keeney

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Thomas Kennedy

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Karl Lauffer

    (Lauffer Space Engineering)

  • Erik Lessac-Chenen

    (KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice)

  • Rob Leonard

    (Teton Cyber Technology)

  • Andrew Levine

    (KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice)

  • Allen Lunsford

    (American University)

  • Tim Martin

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Jim McAdams

    (KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice)

  • Greg Mehall

    (Arizona State University)

  • Trevor Merkley

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Graham Miller

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Matthew Montanaro

    (Rochester Institute of Technology)

  • Anna Montgomery

    (KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice)

  • Graham Murphy

    (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)

  • Maxwell Myers

    (KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice)

  • Derek S. Nelson

    (KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice)

  • Adriana Ocampo

    (NASA Headquarters)

  • Ryan Olds

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • John Y. Pelgrift

    (KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice)

  • Trevor Perkins

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Jon Pineau

    (Stellar Solutions)

  • Devin Poland

    (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)

  • Vaishnavi Ramanan

    (KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice)

  • Debi Rose

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Eric Sahr

    (KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice)

  • Owen Short

    (Teton Cyber Technology)

  • Ishita Solanki

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Dale Stanbridge

    (KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice)

  • Brian Sutter

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Zachary Talpas

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Howard Taylor

    (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)

  • Bo Treiu

    (NASA Headquarters)

  • Nate Vermeer

    (Lockheed Martin Space)

  • Michael Vincent

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • Mike Wallace

    (Big Head Endian)

  • Gerald Weigle

    (Big Head Endian)

  • Daniel R. Wibben

    (KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice)

  • Zach Wiens

    (Southwest Research Institute)

  • John P. Wilson

    (Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)

  • Yifan Zhao

    (Arizona State University)

Abstract

Asteroids with diameters less than about 5 km have complex histories because they are small enough for radiative torques (that is, YORP, short for the Yarkovsky–O’Keefe–Radzievskii–Paddack effect)1 to be a notable factor in their evolution2. (152830) Dinkinesh is a small asteroid orbiting the Sun near the inner edge of the main asteroid belt with a heliocentric semimajor axis of 2.19 au; its S-type spectrum3,4 is typical of bodies in this part of the main belt5. Here we report observations by the Lucy spacecraft6,7 as it passed within 431 km of Dinkinesh. Lucy revealed Dinkinesh, which has an effective diameter of only 720 m, to be unexpectedly complex. Of particular note is the presence of a prominent longitudinal trough overlain by a substantial equatorial ridge and the discovery of the first confirmed contact binary satellite, now named (152830) Dinkinesh I Selam. Selam consists of two near-equal-sized lobes with diameters of 210 m and 230 m. It orbits Dinkinesh at a distance of 3.1 km with an orbital period of about 52.7 h and is tidally locked. The dynamical state, angular momentum and geomorphologic observations of the system lead us to infer that the ridge and trough of Dinkinesh are probably the result of mass failure resulting from spin-up by YORP followed by the partial reaccretion of the shed material. Selam probably accreted from material shed by this event.

Suggested Citation

  • Harold F. Levison & Simone Marchi & Keith S. Noll & John R. Spencer & Thomas S. Statler & James F. Bell & Edward B. Bierhaus & Richard Binzel & William F. Bottke & Daniel Britt & Michael E. Brown & Ma, 2024. "A contact binary satellite of the asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh," Nature, Nature, vol. 629(8014), pages 1015-1020, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:629:y:2024:i:8014:d:10.1038_s41586-024-07378-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07378-0
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