The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) continues its space exploration with instruments and telescopes deep into our galaxy. Recently, the agency announced that it had discovered an ocean-covered planet that is 5 times larger than our planet and 100 light-years away. Now it has been announced that a new discovery has been made.
NASA announced that they discovered a satellite on the outskirts of our solar system with the help of the Lucy space probe, which was sent to study asteroids in October last year. The remarkable feature of this object was that it was quite small.
4.8km-wide ‘minimoon’ discovered while orbiting an asteroid
Scientists discovered this ‘mini-moon’ object while examining an asteroid called Polymele in the depths of our solar system. The researchers, who said Polymele was 27 kilometers wide, noticed something strange as this asteroid passed in front of a star. The oddity noticed was an object orbiting the asteroid about 4.8 kilometers wide.
Experts stated that they think that this object they discovered is a tiny satellite that resembles our own natural satellite, the Moon. Noting that this ‘mini moon’ is very small, NASA stated that it is almost impossible to see from Earth. It was also added to the explanations that the satellite was orbiting very close to the asteroid and would not have been noticed if Lucy had not followed Polymele.
The researchers say it’s not possible to fully confirm the existence of this tiny moon from long-distance observations. For this reason, it is stated that the Lucy vehicle should be expected to approach the asteroid in 2027. If we are lucky, it is also noted that if the asteroid passes in front of another star, new observations of the satellite can be made.
Finally, let’s add that only two of the 14 teams that reported the observations noticed this. So there’s a chance that the mini-moon could be something completely different, or even nonexistent. We will see if this mystery will be solved in the future.
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