A pair of stereoscopic images of the asteroid Dinkinesh and its satellite, Selam, created using data collected by the L’LORRI camera on the NASA Lucy spacecraft in the minutes around closest approach on November 1, 2023. Credit: NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab for the original images/Brian May/Claudia Manzoni for stereo processing of the images
An asteroid discovered last November is in fact a solar system toddler – just 2-3 million years old, a Cornell University-led research team estimates using novel statistical calculations.
Binary asteroids are dynamically complex and fascinating objects that are engaged in a sort of tug of war, the researchers said. Gravity acting on the objects causes them to physically bulge and results in tides, which slowly reduce the system’s energy. Meanwhile, the sun’s radiation also alters the binary system’s energy with an effect termed the Binary Yarkovsky-O’Keefe-Radzievskii-Paddack effect.
Researchers hope to apply their new aging method to other binary systems where dynamics have been well characterized, even without close flybys.