A contact binary satellite of the asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh

Harold F. Levison (), Simone Marchi, Keith S. Noll, John R. Spencer, Thomas S. Statler, James F. Bell, Edward B. Bierhaus, Richard Binzel, William F. Bottke, Daniel Britt, Michael E. Brown, Marc W. Buie, Philip R. Christensen, Neil Dello Russo, Joshua P. Emery, William M. Grundy, Matthias Hahn, Victoria E. Hamilton, Carly Howett, Hannah Kaplan, Katherine Kretke, Tod R. Lauer, Claudia Manzoni, Raphael Marschall, Audrey C. Martin, Brian H. May, Stefano Mottola, Catherine B. Olkin, Martin Pätzold, Joel Wm. Parker, Simon Porter, Frank Preusker, Silvia Protopapa, Dennis C. Reuter, Stuart J. Robbins, Julien Salmon, Amy A. Simon, S. Alan Stern, Jessica M. Sunshine, Ian Wong, Harold A. Weaver, Coralie Adam, Shanti Ancheta, John Andrews, Saadat Anwar, Olivier S. Barnouin, Matthew Beasley, Kevin E. Berry, Emma Birath, Bryce Bolin, Mark Booco, Rich Burns, Pam Campbell, Russell Carpenter, Katherine Crombie, Mark Effertz, Emily Eifert, Caroline Ellis, Preston Faiks, Joel Fischetti, Paul Fleming, Kristen Francis, Ray Franco, Sandy Freund, Claire Gallagher, Jeroen Geeraert, Caden Gobat, Donovan Gorgas, Chris Granat, Sheila Gray, Patrick Haas, Ann Harch, Katie Hegedus, Chris Isabelle, Bill Jackson, Taylor Jacob, Sherry Jennings, David Kaufmann, Brian A. Keeney, Thomas Kennedy, Karl Lauffer, Erik Lessac-Chenen, Rob Leonard, Andrew Levine, Allen Lunsford, Tim Martin, Jim McAdams, Greg Mehall, Trevor Merkley, Graham Miller, Matthew Montanaro, Anna Montgomery, Graham Murphy, Maxwell Myers, Derek S. Nelson, Adriana Ocampo, Ryan Olds, John Y. Pelgrift, Trevor Perkins, Jon Pineau, Devin Poland, Vaishnavi Ramanan, Debi Rose, Eric Sahr, Owen Short, Ishita Solanki, Dale Stanbridge, Brian Sutter, Zachary Talpas, Howard Taylor, Bo Treiu, Nate Vermeer, Michael Vincent, Mike Wallace, Gerald Weigle, Daniel R. Wibben, Zach Wiens, John P. Wilson and Yifan Zhao
Additional contact information
Harold F. Levison: Southwest Research Institute
Simone Marchi: Southwest Research Institute
Keith S. Noll: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
John R. Spencer: Southwest Research Institute
Thomas S. Statler: NASA Headquarters
James F. Bell: Arizona State University
Edward B. Bierhaus: Lockheed Martin Space
Richard Binzel: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
William F. Bottke: Southwest Research Institute
Daniel Britt: University of Central Florida
Michael E. Brown: California Institute of Technology
Marc W. Buie: Southwest Research Institute
Philip R. Christensen: Arizona State University
Neil Dello Russo: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Joshua P. Emery: Northern Arizona University
William M. Grundy: Northern Arizona University
Matthias Hahn: Rheinisches Institut für Umweltforschung an der Universität zu Köln
Victoria E. Hamilton: Southwest Research Institute
Carly Howett: University of Oxford
Hannah Kaplan: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Katherine Kretke: Southwest Research Institute
Tod R. Lauer: NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory
Claudia Manzoni: London Stereoscopic Company
Raphael Marschall: CNRS, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Laboratoire J.-L. Lagrange
Audrey C. Martin: University of Central Florida
Brian H. May: London Stereoscopic Company
Stefano Mottola: DLR Institute of Planetary Research
Catherine B. Olkin: Muon Space
Martin Pätzold: Rheinisches Institut für Umweltforschung an der Universität zu Köln
Joel Wm. Parker: Southwest Research Institute
Simon Porter: Southwest Research Institute
Frank Preusker: DLR Institute of Planetary Research
Silvia Protopapa: Southwest Research Institute
Dennis C. Reuter: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Stuart J. Robbins: Southwest Research Institute
Julien Salmon: Southwest Research Institute
Amy A. Simon: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
S. Alan Stern: Southwest Research Institute
Jessica M. Sunshine: University of Maryland
Ian Wong: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Harold A. Weaver: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Coralie Adam: KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice
Shanti Ancheta: Lockheed Martin Space
John Andrews: Southwest Research Institute
Saadat Anwar: Arizona State University
Olivier S. Barnouin: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Matthew Beasley: Southwest Research Institute
Kevin E. Berry: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Emma Birath: Southwest Research Institute
Bryce Bolin: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Mark Booco: Lockheed Martin Space
Rich Burns: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Pam Campbell: Lockheed Martin Space
Russell Carpenter: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Katherine Crombie: Indigo Information Services
Mark Effertz: Lockheed Martin Space
Emily Eifert: Lockheed Martin Space
Caroline Ellis: Lockheed Martin Space
Preston Faiks: Lockheed Martin Space
Joel Fischetti: KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice
Paul Fleming: Red Canyon Software
Kristen Francis: Lockheed Martin Space
Ray Franco: Lockheed Martin Space
Sandy Freund: Lockheed Martin Space
Claire Gallagher: Lockheed Martin Space
Jeroen Geeraert: KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice
Caden Gobat: Southwest Research Institute
Donovan Gorgas: Lockheed Martin Space
Chris Granat: Lockheed Martin Space
Sheila Gray: Lockheed Martin Space
Patrick Haas: Lockheed Martin Space
Ann Harch: Cornell University
Katie Hegedus: Lockheed Martin Space
Chris Isabelle: Lockheed Martin Space
Bill Jackson: Lockheed Martin Space
Taylor Jacob: Lockheed Martin Space
Sherry Jennings: Marshall Space Flight Center
David Kaufmann: Southwest Research Institute
Brian A. Keeney: Southwest Research Institute
Thomas Kennedy: Lockheed Martin Space
Karl Lauffer: Lauffer Space Engineering
Erik Lessac-Chenen: KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice
Rob Leonard: Teton Cyber Technology
Andrew Levine: KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice
Allen Lunsford: American University
Tim Martin: Lockheed Martin Space
Jim McAdams: KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice
Greg Mehall: Arizona State University
Trevor Merkley: Lockheed Martin Space
Graham Miller: Lockheed Martin Space
Matthew Montanaro: Rochester Institute of Technology
Anna Montgomery: KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice
Graham Murphy: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Maxwell Myers: KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice
Derek S. Nelson: KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice
Adriana Ocampo: NASA Headquarters
Ryan Olds: Lockheed Martin Space
John Y. Pelgrift: KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice
Trevor Perkins: Lockheed Martin Space
Jon Pineau: Stellar Solutions
Devin Poland: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Vaishnavi Ramanan: KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice
Debi Rose: Southwest Research Institute
Eric Sahr: KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice
Owen Short: Teton Cyber Technology
Ishita Solanki: Southwest Research Institute
Dale Stanbridge: KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice
Brian Sutter: Lockheed Martin Space
Zachary Talpas: Southwest Research Institute
Howard Taylor: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Bo Treiu: NASA Headquarters
Nate Vermeer: Lockheed Martin Space
Michael Vincent: Southwest Research Institute
Mike Wallace: Big Head Endian
Gerald Weigle: Big Head Endian
Daniel R. Wibben: KinetX Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics Practice
Zach Wiens: Southwest Research Institute
John P. Wilson: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Yifan Zhao: Arizona State University

Nature, 2024, vol. 629, issue 8014, 1015-1020

Abstract: Abstract Asteroids with diameters less than about 5 km have complex histories because they are small enough for radiative torques (that is, YORP, short for the Yarkovsky–O’Keefe–Radzievskii–Paddack effect)1 to be a notable factor in their evolution2. (152830) Dinkinesh is a small asteroid orbiting the Sun near the inner edge of the main asteroid belt with a heliocentric semimajor axis of 2.19 au; its S-type spectrum3,4 is typical of bodies in this part of the main belt5. Here we report observations by the Lucy spacecraft6,7 as it passed within 431 km of Dinkinesh. Lucy revealed Dinkinesh, which has an effective diameter of only 720 m, to be unexpectedly complex. Of particular note is the presence of a prominent longitudinal trough overlain by a substantial equatorial ridge 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 52.7 h and is tidally locked. The dynamical state, angular momentum and geomorphologic observations of the system lead us to infer that the ridge and trough of Dinkinesh are probably the result of mass failure resulting from spin-up by YORP followed by the partial reaccretion of the shed material. Selam probably accreted from material shed by this event.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07378-0

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