The Discovery of a Contact-Binary Satellite of the Asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh by the Lucy Mission

The Discovery of a Contact-Binary Satellite of the Asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh by the Lucy Mission | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article The Discovery of a Contact-Binary Satellite of the Asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh by the Lucy Mission Harold Levison This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3911173/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 29 May, 2024 Read the published version in Nature → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract On November 1, 2023, Lucy passed within 431 km of the smallest Main Belt asteroid yet to be encountered by a spacecraft, (152830) Dinkinesh. This target was a late addition to the Lucy mission \cite{Levison+2021} and was intended primarily as an in-flight test of the Terminal Tracking system, an autonomous range-finding and tracking system that is a critical component of Lucy’s operations \citep{Olkin+2021}. Data obtained by Lucy’s instruments during the encounter revealed Dinkinesh, which has an effective diameter of only ~720 m, to be an unexpectedly complex system. Of particular note is the presence of a substantial equatorial ridge and a longitudinal trough, and the discovery of the first confirmed contact binary satellite, now named (152830) Dinkinesh I Selam. Selam consists of two near-equal sized lobes with diameters of ~210 m and ~230 m. It orbits Dinkinesh at a distance of ~3.1 km with an orbital period of about 53 hr, and is tidally locked. Dinkinesh's ridge and trough are likely the result of mass failure resulting from YORP torques, and the reaccretion of material. This event is probably linked to the formation of Selam. Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Planetary science/Asteroids, comets and Kuiper belt Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science/Planetary science/Structural geology minor planets asteroids: Trojans — space vehicles: instruments Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 29 May, 2024 Read the published version in Nature → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3911173","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":270553387,"identity":"0fa61b46-b59b-4e30-bdea-136d3ec4e149","order_by":0,"name":"Harold Levison","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA5ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAwbmBoYHDAw8QDYjkAYzCGlhbGBIgKhkNiBJCwiwSRDlMHP2g0AtFYdl5Nt7j1X+bLsnw8De+/gFPi2WPYlALWcO8xicOZd2m7etmIeB57iZBV6HHQBqSWxL4zGQyDG7zbgtgYdBIo3NAK+W8w+BWv6l8cjPyDEr/EmUlhsgWxpseBhu5Jgx8EK0MD/Ar+Vhw4GEYzZAv5wxlub9l8DDxnOMDZ8OoMOSDz74UCNhL9/eY/jxx5kEe372NuYPePUAwQEUHhvREYQMCNsyCkbBKBgFIwoAAEXrRSikNVp7AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"SwRI","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Harold","middleName":"","lastName":"Levison","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-01-30 16:26:56","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3911173/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3911173/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07378-0","type":"published","date":"2024-05-29T04:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":57396343,"identity":"a241b487-416f-4c11-b9a3-4c4202eb5598","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-05-30 07:05:30","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3260366,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"DinkineshandSelamv22submitted.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3911173/v1_covered_d7e04f7d-acd3-42d3-88ae-5cae5792f2d5.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"The Discovery of a Contact-Binary Satellite of the Asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh by the Lucy Mission","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"minor planets, asteroids: Trojans — space vehicles: instruments","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3911173/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3911173/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"On November 1, 2023, Lucy passed within 431 km of the smallest Main Belt asteroid yet to be encountered by a spacecraft, (152830) Dinkinesh. 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