Categories: Science

Nasa’s lucy spacecraft discovers age of first asteroid target


NEW DELHI: Nasa’s Lucy spacecraft, in a flyby in November made an unexpected discovery, revealing that the target named Dinkinesh was not a single rock but rather a cluster of three rocks, Space.com reported. The spacecraft also discovered that Selam, Dinkinesh’s natural satellite, which upon closer inspection, was found to be two objects fused together.
By examining the significant craters on the space rocks, scientists have estimated Dinkinesh to be around 7 million years old and Selam approximately 2 million years old.They find it fascinating that Dinkinesh and Selam exhibit only a minor age gap (in cosmic terms, 5 million years is negligible compared to the age of our 4.5-billion-year-old solar system).
“This could tell us something fundamental about the formation of these objects and possibly different processes are responsible for Dinkinesh and Selam,” said Marchi, the deputy principal investigator of the mission at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Texas.
The encounter with Dinkinesh was initially meant as an engineering test for Lucy’s tracking system. However, the spacecraft exceeded expectations, providing remarkably clear images throughout the flyby. Scientists from the SwRI shared their findings at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), revealing that Dinkinesh and Selam exhibit similar characteristics, suggesting they are likely remnants of larger celestial bodies, Space.com reported.
John Spencer, the mission’s deputy project scientist said, “We totally blew those requirements out of the water.” “We had pin sharp images all the way through the encounter,” he added.
The study of these asteroids also sheds light on phenomena such as the “YORP effect,” where solar radiation causes slight thrust, altering the rotation of space rocks. Additionally, the Lucy mission, launched in 2021, is poised to explore more Trojan asteroids, aiming to uncover insights into the solar system’s formation and the origins of life on Earth.
(With inputs from agencies)

function loadGtagEvents(isGoogleCampaignActive) { if (!isGoogleCampaignActive) { return; } var id = document.getElementById('toi-plus-google-campaign'); if (id) { return; } (function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) { t = b.createElement(e); t.async = !0; t.defer = !0; t.src = v; t.id = 'toi-plus-google-campaign'; s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s); })(f, b, e, 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=AW-877820074', n, t, s); };

function loadSurvicateJs(allowedSurvicateSections = []){ const section = window.location.pathname.split('/')[1] const isHomePageAllowed = window.location.pathname === '/' && allowedSurvicateSections.includes('homepage')

if(allowedSurvicateSections.includes(section) || isHomePageAllowed){ (function(w) { var s = document.createElement('script'); s.src="https://survey.survicate.com/workspaces/0be6ae9845d14a7c8ff08a7a00bd9b21/web_surveys.js"; s.async = true; var e = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; e.parentNode.insertBefore(s, e); })(window); }

}

window.TimesApps = window.TimesApps || {}; var TimesApps = window.TimesApps; TimesApps.toiPlusEvents = function(config) { var isConfigAvailable = "toiplus_site_settings" in f && "isFBCampaignActive" in f.toiplus_site_settings && "isGoogleCampaignActive" in f.toiplus_site_settings; var isPrimeUser = window.isPrime; if (isConfigAvailable && !isPrimeUser) { loadGtagEvents(f.toiplus_site_settings.isGoogleCampaignActive); loadFBEvents(f.toiplus_site_settings.isFBCampaignActive); loadSurvicateJs(f.toiplus_site_settings.allowedSurvicateSections); } else { var JarvisUrl="https://vsp1jarvispvt.indiatimes.com/v1/feeds/toi_plus/site_settings/643526e21443833f0c454615?db_env=published"; window.getFromClient(JarvisUrl, function(config){ if (config) { loadGtagEvents(config?.isGoogleCampaignActive); loadFBEvents(config?.isFBCampaignActive); loadSurvicateJs(config?.allowedSurvicateSections); } }) } }; })( window, document, 'script', );

Source link

jaghit

Share
Published by
jaghit

Recent Posts

'मुख्यमंत्री कोविड-19 बाल सेवा योजना' के लिए नहीं है बजट? अब मंत्री नरेंद्र पटेल ने किया ये दावा

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Madhya Pradesh News Today:</strong> भारत सहित पूरी दुनिया ने 3 साल वैश्विक महामारी…

3 months ago

Inside Hina Khan’s Pre-Birthday Celebrations With Rocky Jaiswal And Mother In Goa

Hina Khan’s birthday is on October 2. (Photo Credits: Instagram)From a stunning view of her…

3 months ago

Swiggy IPO Gets Sebi Approval: All You Need to Know About Rs 11,000-Crore Issue

Food and grocery delivery major Swiggy has received markets regulator Sebi’s clearance to launch its…

3 months ago

‘Imprints of Make in India visible everywhere’: PM Modi lauds 10 years of flagship initiative | India News

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday lauded the efforts of each and every…

3 months ago

Waqf Amendment Bill JPC 1 Crore Emails Nishikant Dubey VHP Vinod Bansal Said it Email Jihad | वक्फ बिल पर 1 करोड़ से ज्यादा सुझाव: VHP बोली

Waqf Amendment Bill Email: वक्फ संशोधन बिल पर संयुक्त संसदीय समिति (जेपीसी) को सुझाव के लिए…

3 months ago

Georgia Meloni and Elon Musk date truth behind the viral photos

Meloni And Musk Viral Photos : दुनिया के सबसे अमीर शख्स एलन मस्क ज्यादातर किसी…

3 months ago