NASA's Lucy probe unveils 'cosmic bowling pin' asteroid
The Lucy probe has captured an image of the asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson. NASA has released photos of this object, which is referred to as a "cosmic bowling pin" due to its distinctive shape. "Asteroid Donaldjohanson has strikingly complicated geology. As we study the complex structures in detail, they will reveal important information," stated one of the researchers.
The object was recorded on 20 April. According to NASA, the Lucy probe was approximately 600 miles from the asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson. The probe transmitted an image of the object back to Earth. NASA's statement acknowledged that the unusual "neck" connecting the two main parts was unexpected.
"Asteroid Donaldjohanson has strikingly complicated geology. 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," said Hal Levison, principal investigator of the Lucy mission from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
The probe recorded the asteroid. Now it's heading towards Jupiter
Donaldjohanson measures 5 miles long and 2 miles wide at its widest point. In the initial high-resolution photos, the entire object is not visible because it is too large for the camera's field of view. Sending all the data from this flyby will take about a week. The complete data set will provide a fuller picture of the asteroid's shape.
This is not the Lucy probe's first encounter with such an object. It previously recorded the asteroid Dinkinesh. Donaldjohanson is not the primary research target of the mission. The Lucy probe will spend the rest of 2025 travelling through the central asteroid belt. In August 2027, it will reach the primary target of the mission – Jupiter’s Trojan asteroid, Eurybates.
"These early images of Donaldjohanson are again showing the tremendous capabilities of the Lucy spacecraft as an engine of discovery. The potential to really open a new window into the history of our solar system when Lucy gets to the Trojan asteroids is immense," said Tom Statler, Lucy program scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington.
