Our solar system’s first quadruple asteroid system has been discovered!

Astronomers have observed the first quadruple asteroid system ever known. Known as the asteroid 130 Elektra and discovered in the 19th century, it was thought to have two moons around it, but new studies have found three moons around it, making it the first quadruple asteroid system with it.

First quadruple asteroid system discovered with an algorithm

Asteroids are mostly located singly in space, but in some cases they have also been observed to be located in pairs gravitationally. Few have so far discovered triple asteroid systems with two moons orbiting a large asteroid. One of them was Elektra, and it revolved around the Sun with two moons around it.

A team from Thailand and France observed 3 moons rather than 2 around Elektra, making it the first known quadruple asteroid system. Discovered in 1873, Elektra has a diameter of about 200 km, and in 2003 it was found to have a satellite orbiting every five days at a distance of 1300 km from Elektra. The first satellite to be observed was 6 km in diameter. In 2014, astronomers noted that there was another satellite in orbit. Elektra’s second satellite was a smaller 2km satellite that completed a 500km orbit every 1.2 days.

The newly discovered third satellite, which makes Elektra the first known quadruple asteroid system, completes its orbit in just 16 hours.

The new satellite was not actually found with the newly provided images. Unveiling the third satellite, Dr. It was an algorithm developed by Anthony Berdeu. Berdeu analyzed images where the second moon was discovered in 2014, with its algorithm that reduces the glare of light from the parent asteroid and removes it from the image, allowing fainter objects to become visible. Examining two different datasets, Berdeu and other astronomers found the existence of the third moon.

Astronomers, first Although they have discovered the quadruple asteroid system, they state that this number may increase. The team says that with the developed algorithm, they will be able to image other asteroids and solar system objects and potentially find other hidden moons.