Meet "Selam": The Curious Double Moon You Won't Stop Talking About 🪐💖

The curious double moon discovered orbiting asteroid "Dinky" now has a name: Selam! This announcement came just weeks after the NASA Lucy spacecraft revealed the intriguing asteroid system.

 

 

Dinky, officially called Dinkinesh, is located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Its small moon, initially known as the "contact binary", was discovered during Lucy's first flyby on November 1st.

 

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Scientists were surprised to find that the moon itself was a "contact binary," meaning two smaller objects were physically touching each other. This marks the first time such a system has been observed orbiting another asteroid.

 

The name "Selam" was chosen through a public contest held by the Lucy team. It means "peace" in several Ethiopian languages, a fitting tribute to the Lucy spacecraft's mission to study the early solar system.

 

 

 

"We wanted to choose a name that reflected the unique nature of this system," said Hal Levison, principal investigator of the Lucy mission. "Selam represents the peace and harmony that exists between these two objects, even though they are constantly in contact."

 

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Dinky and Selam continue to be a source of fascination for scientists. The Lucy spacecraft will make future flybys of the system to learn more about its formation and evolution.

 

 

More about the discovery:

• The Lucy spacecraft was launched in October 2021 on a mission to study the Trojan asteroids, a group of objects thought to be remnants of the early solar system.
• The discovery of Selam was made possible by Lucy's high-resolution cameras, which were able to capture images of the asteroid system in detail.
• Scientists are still trying to understand how Selam formed and how it came to be in a contact binary configuration.

 

This discovery is significant for several reasons:

• It provides new insights into the formation and evolution of asteroids.
• It raises new questions about the diversity of asteroid systems in our solar system.
• It highlights the importance of space exploration in helping us to understand the universe around us.

We are excited to see what future observations of Dinky and Selam reveal about these fascinating objects.

 

FAQ

 

What is "Selam"?

Selam is the name given to the double moon orbiting the asteroid "Dinky" (officially called Dinkinesh). This system was discovered by the NASA Lucy spacecraft in November 2023 and is the first of its kind ever observed.

What makes Selam unique?

Selam is unique in several ways:

• It is a "contact binary." This means that the two smaller objects that make up the moon are physically touching each other.
• It orbits another asteroid. This is the first time such a system has been observed in the main asteroid belt.
• It is named after a word that means "peace" in several Ethiopian languages. This reflects the Lucy spacecraft's mission to study the early solar system.

How did Selam form?

Scientists are still trying to understand how Selam formed. Some possible explanations include:

• Two separate asteroids collided and merged.
• A single asteroid was spinning so fast that it broke apart due to centrifugal force.
• A large asteroid was captured by the gravity of Dinky and eventually broke up into two smaller objects.

What are scientists hoping to learn from Selam?

By studying Selam, scientists hope to learn more about:

• The formation and evolution of asteroids.
• The diversity of asteroid systems in our solar system.
• The process of binary asteroid formation.

Where can I learn more about Selam?

You can learn more about Selam by visiting the following resources:

• NASA Lucy website: https://lucy.swri.edu/
• Scientific American article: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa-asteroid-mission-discovers-tiny-surprise-moon-with-really-bizarre-shape/
• Space.com article: https://phys.org/news/2017-09-asteroid-florence-moons.html

Additional FAQs:

• How big is Selam?
  • Selam is approximately 2.5 kilometers in diameter.
• How far away is Selam from Earth?
  • Selam is currently located in the main asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter. The exact distance varies depending on its orbit.
• Will the Lucy spacecraft visit Selam again?
  • Yes, the Lucy spacecraft is scheduled to make two more flybys of the Dinky system in 2025 and 2027.

We hope this FAQ has answered your questions about the double moon "Selam"!