Latest news with #Donaldjohanson
International Business Times
07-07-2025
- Science
- International Business Times
NASA Shares First Complete View of Unusual Peanut-Shaped Asteroid Donaldjohanson
Finally, scientists working on NASA's Lucy mission are completing the process of fine-tuning the data collected by the spacecraft's encounter with Donaldjohanson, an asteroid in the main asteroid belt of our solar system, on April 20. And it's just as peanut shaped as we initially thought. At a distance of roughly 600 miles (960 kilometers), Lucy's Long Range Reconnaissance Imager captured a picture of Donaldjohansson earlier this year as it swiftly flew by it. The smallest features visible were about 130 feet (40 meters) across, which is an amazing close-up given the size of everything we see in space. Unfortunately, the Sun's position behind Lucy made the asteroid's finer details less noticeable. Even so, the close visit is crucial because it enables scientists to meticulously examine the surface's details after correcting for brightness. Hal Levison, Lucy's principal investigator, in an earlier press release about the asteroid, said, "Asteroid Donaldjohanson has strikingly complicated geology". About 150 million years ago, two smaller objects collided in space, giving Donaldjohansson its lumpy shape. Given that smaller asteroids in the solar system have a similar shape, Donald Johanson's findings may help us comprehend a wide range of other celestial objects. "As we study the complex structures in detail, they will reveal important information about the building blocks and collisional processes that formed the planets in our Solar System," Levison added. The Lucy mission's itinerary includes visiting the eight Trojan asteroids that orbit Jupiter in the same orbit as the Sun, and Donaldjohansson is not its primary goal. However, NASA's Erin Morton said earlier this week that Lucy's Donaldjohanson encounter—as well as the November 2023 flyby of asteroid Dinkinesh—is a great "dress rehearsal" for Lucy as it continues its journey toward the cooler, outer regions of the solar system. The next significant event for Lucy is scheduled for August 2027, when the spacecraft will begin exploring the Jupiter Trojan asteroids in earnest. Eurybates is a carbonaceous asteroid so large that it has its own satellite, Queta.
NDTV
04-07-2025
- Science
- NDTV
Watch: NASA Mission Captures First Close Look At Peanut-Shaped Asteroid
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has released the first-ever high-resolution image of the main-belt asteroid Donaldjohanson, highlighting its unique peanut shape. This came after NASA's Lucy mission had a key encounter with this asteroid in the solar system's main asteroid belt on April 20. This fly-by was a crucial milestone as it prepares for its primary mission of exploring Jupiter's Trojan asteroids. The spacecraft took high-resolution images using its L'LORRI imager a few minutes before its closest approach to the peanut-shaped space rock. The images show that Donaldjohanson has an elongated shape, resembling a peanut with a rough and cratered surface. The images show that the asteroid is larger than previously thought - it is approximately 8 km long and 3.5 km wide at its widest point. It rotates very slowly, with one rotation completed in 251 hours. The Lucy mission team is analysing the data collected during the fly-by to better understand the asteroid's structure and composition, according to a statement by the space agency. Sharing the image, NASA wrote, 'Asteroid Donaldjohanson as seen by the Lucy spacecraft from a range of about 1,700 miles (2,700 km), about 3.2 minutes before closest approach on April 20, 2025. This is the highest resolution image yet of the entire asteroid, taken just before it overfilled the L'LORRI field of view. The smallest visible features are about 130 feet (40 meters) across. The illumination conditions, with the Sun almost behind Lucy, greatly reduce the contrast of topographic details.' The asteroid is named after anthropologist Donald Johanson, who discovered the fossilised skeleton — called 'Lucy' — of a human ancestor. NASA's Lucy mission is named for the fossil, the agency said. NASA scientists said the "successful dress rehearsal" proves the team and spacecraft were ready for their main objective - exploring the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. The spacecraft is now in a quiet cruise period, travelling through the main asteroid belt at over 30,000 mph (50,000 km/h). When Lucy reaches the Trojan asteroids, it will make four encounters and observe at least six asteroids (including two satellites identified by the Lucy team) in less than 15 months. The first encounter will take place in August 2027, with the asteroid Eurybates.
Gizmodo
03-07-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
NASA Reveals First-Ever Full Image of Peanut-Shaped Asteroid Donaldjohanson
Scientists with NASA's Lucy mission are finally wrapping up the process of refining the data gathered by the spacecraft's April 20 encounter with Donaldjohanson, an asteroid in our solar system's main asteroid belt. And it's, uh, as peanut-shaped as we first saw it. Earlier this year, Lucy's Long Range Reconnaissance Imager snapped an image of Donaldjohansson while quickly swooping past it, at a distance of about 600 miles (960 kilometers), with the smallest visible features measuring around 130 feet (40 meters) across—an impressive close-up, considering the overall scale of anything we observe in space. Regrettably, the Sun's position behind Lucy reduced the contrast of the asteroid's smaller details. But the close visit is invaluable nevertheless, as it's allowing scientists to carefully comb over the details of its surface after adjusting for the brightness. 'Asteroid Donaldjohanson has strikingly complicated geology,' said Hal Levison, Lucy's principal investigator, in an earlier press release about the asteroid. Donaldjohansson likely got its lumpy shape from a cosmic collision between two smaller objects around 150 million years ago. It's a relatively common shape among smaller asteroids in the solar system, so what we learn from Donaldjohanson could inform our understanding of many other cosmic objects. 'As we study the complex structures in detail, they will reveal important information about the building blocks and collisional processes that formed the planets in our Solar System,' Levison added in the same release. Donaldjohansson is not the main objective of the Lucy mission, whose itinerary is set for the eight Trojan asteroids that share Jupiter's orbit around the Sun. Still, Lucy's Donaldjohanson encounter—and the November 2023 flyby of asteroid Dinkinesh—is an excellent 'dress rehearsal' for Lucy as it continues its journey toward the cooler, outer regions of the solar system, according to NASA's Erin Morton in a statement earlier this week. Lucy's next milestone is set to occur in August 2027, when the spacecraft will finally start to explore the Jupiter Trojan asteroids in earnest—starting with Eurybates, a carbonaceous asteroid so big that it has its own satellite, Queta.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Learn About: NASA's Lucy Spacecraft Flyby With Asteroid Donaldjohanson
Learn more about the Lucy mission "fly past 52246 Donaldjohanson -NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Dan Gallagher: Producer/Narrator Adriana Manrique Gutierrez: Animator Kel Elkins: Animator Johathan North: Animator Michael Lentz: Animator/Art Director Walt Feimer: Animation Lead Nancy Jones: Public Affairs Katherine Kretke: Public Affairs Universal Production Music: 'Nico's Journey' by Nicholas Smith [PRS]; 'Knowing Half the Future' and 'Temporal Timings' by Lee John Gretton [PRS]; 'Poly Propulsion' by Alfie Solo [PRS]
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Lucy Spacecraft Captured 1st Ever Close-Up Views Of Asteroid Donaldjohanson
NASA's Lucy spacecraft has captured the first-ever view of asteroid Donaldjohanson. It was reported by NASA the spacecraft's closest approach distance was 600 miles (960 km). Credit: | imagery: NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL| edited by Steve Spaleta
