September 16, 2022
The science team from NASA’s Lucy mission dis-covered a satellite orbiting Polymele, one of the Trojan asteroids around Jupiter. This new satellite was located at a distance of 770 million kilometres from Earth at the time of the observation. It has a diameter of around 5kms, while Polymele has a diameter of 27kms. The distance between the satellite and Polymele is around 200kms.
The satellite will not be named until its orbit is determined by scientists, which will take place when Lucy approaches the asteroid in 2027. Launched in 2021, Lucy is on its way to visit nine asteroids on its 12-year-long journey.
Did You Know?
Most of the asteroids in our solar system are found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
Image Source: nasa.gov
