The moon orbiting the asteroid Dinkinesh is actually two tiny moons stuck together. Collectively called 'Selam,' the two moonlets bring new insight into the complex processes behind planetary formation and evolution.
The moon orbiting the asteroid Dinkinesh is actually two tiny moons stuck together. Collectively called 'Selam,' the two moonlets bring new insight into the complex processes behind planetary formation and evolution.
"There's a lot more complexity in these small bodies than we originally thought," said Sunshine, a co-author of the paper."With the additional observations taken by the spacecraft, we were able to better analyze features such as Dinkinesh's rotation speed and Selam's orbit pattern. We also have a better understanding of what materials they're possibly made of, bringing us a step closer to learning just how terrestrial bodies are created.
The team deduced that Dinky likely had some internal strength, which allowed it to maintain most of its form. "The Didymos binary system is located in a near-Earth environment while the Dinkinesh system is located much farther away from Earth in the main asteroid belt," she added."They have very different features but we think they may have undergone similar processes to become what we know of them today."
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