Latest news with #DonaldJohanson
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA spacecraft zooms by strange asteroid, beams back images
A NASA spacecraft is traveling to the most mysterious asteroids in the solar system. On the way there, it snapped images of the curious, elongated asteroid dubbed "Donaldjohanson." On April 20, the over 50-foot-wide Lucy spacecraft approached as close as some 600 miles from Donaldjohanson, which is aptly named for the discoverer of the famed Lucy hominid fossil, paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson. The craft sped by at 30,000 mph, and used a specialized camera to capture a detailed view of the five-mile-wide asteroid. The images show a unique-looking asteroid, with a narrow neck connecting the object's two lobes. SEE ALSO: If a scary asteroid will actually strike Earth, here's how you'll know "These early images of Donaldjohanson are again showing the tremendous capabilities of the Lucy spacecraft as an engine of discovery," Tom Statler, a NASA planetary scientist and program scientist of the mission, said in a statement. "The potential to really open a new window into the history of our solar system when Lucy gets to the Trojan asteroids is immense." New imagery of the asteroid Donaldjohanson captured by NASA's Lucy spacecraft. Credit: NASA / Goddard / SwRI / Johns Hopkins APL / NOIRLab (The asteroid seen in the animation above was observed at a distance of 1,000 to 660 miles away.) The Trojan asteroids — two swarms of diverse asteroids trapped around the gas giant Jupiter (one in front and one behind) — are of profound interest to planetary scientists. These asteroids can't leave Jupiter's potent gravitational influence, so Trojan meteorites likely don't land on Earth, depriving us of samples. Crucially, researchers suspect these icy rocks are captured relics of our solar system's formation some 4 billion years ago. If so, the Trojans are the smaller building blocks of planets. They can help tell us how Earth, and the other planets, came to be. "If we want to understand ourselves, we have to understand these small bodies," Hal Levison, a planetary scientist who leads the unprecedented mission to investigate the Trojans, previously told Mashable. "This is the first reconnaissance of the Trojan swarms," Levison added. This high-speed flyby of Donaldjohanson is the spacecraft's last "dress rehearsal" before it arrives at its first Trojan in August 2027, named Eurybates. To investigate the Trojans, Lucy is equipped with a suite of powerful cameras, including the Lucy Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager, or L'LORRI, which captured the images above. While it's not unusual for an object in space to be a "contact binary" — meaning two objects that orbited so closely they eventually merged — NASA noted that "the team was surprised by the odd shape of the narrow neck connecting the two lobes, which looks like two nested ice cream cones." Donaldjohanson isn't a primary target of Lucy's mission, but its unusual shape and structure will provide further insight into the origins of such primordial space objects, how they formed, and how our world formed.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA's Lucy probe captures 1st close-up images of asteroid Donaldjohanson, revealing 'strikingly complicated geology'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. NASA's Lucy spacecraft, currently headed toward Jupiter on an asteroid-hopping mission, has captured an impressive close-up of its second target: the space rock 52246 Donaldjohanson. Lucy launched in 2021, embarking on a 12-year journey toward Jupiter's orbit to study an unexplored swarm of asteroids called Jupiter's Trojans. These asteroids are remnants of our early solar system that share the giant planet's orbit around the sun. Along the way, the spacecraft is also squeezing in time for a few dress rehearsals for its Trojan targets down the road — and on Sunday (April 20), it swooped within 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) of the asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson, named after American paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson who co-discovered the Lucy hominid fossil in northern Ethiopia in 1974. Images of the asteroid Lucy took as it approached the three-mile-wide (five-kilometer-wide) asteroid showed wide swings in brightness, suggesting it was either a slowly-rotating rock, appearing brighter when its longer sides faced the spacecraft, or an elongated object. Indeed, close-up images of the asteroid sent home by Lucy on Sunday confirmed both: The asteroid was once two smaller pieces that have conjoined into a larger whole, with a distinct narrow neck between the two lobes. "Asteroid Donaldjohanson has strikingly complicated geology," Hal Levison, the principal investigator for Lucy at Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, said in a statement. "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." The new images show the asteroid appearing to rotate. However, this apparent motion isn't due to the asteroid itself spinning — which it does at a very slow rate of three years and eight months — but rather the result of the Lucy spacecraft whizzing by during its flyby at a relative velocity of 8.3 miles per second (13.4 kilometers per second), NASA said. Preliminary analyses of these images suggest the asteroid, which is likely a fragment of a collision about 150 million years ago, is larger than scientists initially estimated — measuring about 5 miles (8 km) long and 2 miles (3.5 km) wide at its widest point. Related Stories: — NASA's asteroid-hopping Lucy probe takes 1st images of its next target: Donaldjohanson — NASA asteroid surveyor snaps stunning views of Earth and moon on way to Jupiter's Trojans — Asteroid 'Dinky,' visited by NASA's Lucy spacecraft, birthed its own moon The images do not technically reveal the entire asteroid, to be clear, as it is larger than the Lucy imager's field of view. The mission team anticipates it will take up to a week to download the remaining encounter data from the spacecraft, which will provide a more complete picture of the asteroid's overall shape. "These early images of Donaldjohanson are again showing the tremendous capabilities of the Lucy spacecraft as an engine of discovery," Tom Statler, the program scientist for the Lucy mission at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said in the statement. "The potential to really open a new window into the history of our solar system when Lucy gets to the Trojan asteroids is immense." Following this encounter, Lucy will spend the rest of this year cruising through the asteroid belt toward the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. Its first Trojan flyby, of asteroid Eurybates and its satellite Queta, is scheduled for August 2027.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
See it: NASA's Lucy spacecraft sends back first close-up images of asteroid Donaldjohanson
NASA's Lucy spacecraft flew about 600 miles above an asteroid named Donaldjohanson on Easter Sunday, sending back the first close-ups of this oblong, potato-like object believed to be about 150 million years old. United Launch Alliance successfully launched Lucy on Oct. 16, 2021, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. After several gravity assists, the spacecraft is now in deep space, testing out its instruments on a few never-before-seen asteroids as it makes its way to the Trojan asteroids associated with Jupiter. Could Seashells Help Replace Plastics? California Researchers Think So After its first flyby of asteroid Dinkinesh in November, a main asteroid belt object, Lucy successfully made the second flyby of its mission, visiting Donaldjohanson on Sunday. This second encounter enabled Lucy's team to run a full test of its capabilities before heading on to study the Trojan asteroids. About 24 hours later, NASA and Lucy's team at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado, shared the first images of asteroid Donaldjohanson. "Asteroid Donaldjohanson has strikingly complicated geology," Lucy Principal Investigator Hal Levison, with SwRI, said. "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." The moving image above was pieced together with images taken about every 2 seconds using Lucy's Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager during the flyby. Glowing Aurora Lights On Uranus Help Scientists Determine A Day Is 28 Seconds Longer On Sideways Planet Asteroid Donaldjohanson is named after Donald Johanson, the American paleoanthropologist who uncovered the skeletal remains of Lucy, one of humanity's oldest known ancestors. The skeleton found in Ethiopia in 1974 was named after The Beatles' song "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" after a night of celebrating the discovery while listening to the band's songs. Lucy will continue traveling through the main asteroid belt before encountering its first Jupiter Trojan asteroid in August 2027. Associated with Jupiter because the asteroids are on the same orbital path, two groups of Trojan asteroids zoom ahead of Jupiter and trail behind the gas giant. These asteroids are made up of the same materials as the giant planets of our solar system: Jupiter, Saturn and article source: See it: NASA's Lucy spacecraft sends back first close-up images of asteroid Donaldjohanson
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Here's what a Beatles song and a fossil have to do with a NASA mission to study asteroids
Instead of picturing yourself in a boat on a river with tangerine trees and marmalade skies, picture a spacecraft approaching a series of asteroids trapped by Jupiter's gravity. On Sunday, April 20, NASA's Lucy spacecraft — with ties to The Beatles' famous song with Lucy in the name — will make a close approach to study and photograph the asteroid Donaldjohanson, according to the space agency. This will be NASA's dress rehearsal before it approaches the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These leftovers of the early solar system orbit in 'swarms' that lead and follow Jupiter's orbit, NASA stated. But they are not close in proximity to the largest planet in Earth's cosmic neighborhood. Lucy launched to the stars on Oct. 16, 2021, and is on a trajectory to study eight of the never-before-studied Jupiter Trojan asteroids, NASA said. The first few asteroids, including Donaldjohanson, make up part of the main asteroid belt that intersects the solar system between Mars and Jupiter. After two months of photographing Donaldjohanson, Lucy will continue until it reaches the first Jupiter Trojan asteroid Eurybates and its satellite Queta in 2027. Lucy's 12-year mission should conclude with the study of the asteroid Patroclus and its satellite Menoetius on March 3, 2033. The names of both Donaldjohanson and the spacecraft share a common thread with scientific exploration on Earth. The asteroid was named after anthropologist Donald Johanson, who in 1974 discovered what was then the oldest and most complete pre-human skeleton ever found, NASA stated. When the skeleton was found in Ethiopia, 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' by The Beatles played on the radio. Johanson and others named their find Lucy. 'And just as the Lucy fossil provided unique insights into human evolution, the Lucy mission promises to expand our knowledge of planetary origins,' the agency added. 4 planets align in early-morning sky: How and where to spot them Could Mass. see the northern lights in the night sky on Wednesday? Get ready for shooting stars: Lyrid meteor shower to illuminate night sky Remember when Pluto was a planet? Here's 10 photos NASA took of the dwarf planet Meteor shower known for 'fireballs' is coming this week: How to watch
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA spacecraft gets first photos of Asteroid Donaldjohansen on way to exploring even bigger space prize
NASA's Lucy spacecraft has got a new target in its sights. New photos have emerged of a small asteroid named Donaldjohanson. Images show the perceived motion of the asteroid. The Lucy spacecraft will pass within 596 miles of the 2-mile-wide asteroid on April 20. It will be the second asteroid encounter for the Lucy spacecraft. In the first image, another dim asteroid can be seen in the lower right section of the frame. Rare 7-Planet Parade Happens This Week. Here's How You Can See It The spacecraft has valued experience as it successfully observed the tiny main belt asteroid Dinkinesh and its contact binary moon, Selam, in November 2023. NASA says this second asteroid encounter for Lucy "will serve as a dress-rehearsal for the spacecraft's main targets, the never-before-explored Jupiter Trojan asteroids." NASA says the asteroid is named in honor of anthropologist Donald Johanson, who discovered the fossilized skeleton — called "Lucy" — of a human ancestor. The Lucy mission is named for the fossil, NASA added. The Donaldjohanson asteroid currently stands at a distance of 45 million miles away. Although the images are dim, the asteroid is just bright enough to stand out. Lucy will continue to monitor Donaldjohanson over the next two months as part of the optical navigation program, which uses the asteroid's apparent position against the star background to ensure an accurate article source: NASA spacecraft gets first photos of Asteroid Donaldjohansen on way to exploring even bigger space prize
