An asteroid discovered for the first time in December of last year has been revealed to be a unique system featuring two objects locked in a dance around their own binary orbit.
The news was announced by NASA after observations from three of the world's largest radio telescopes confirmed the true distinct nature of the planetary object, one of only four of this type ever seen .
Only the fourth binary asteroid 19659004] "The near-Earth asteroid 2017 YE5 was discovered with observations provided by the Oukaimeden Sky Survey in Morocco on December 21, 2017, but no details on the physical properties of the Asteroid was known until the end of June. "Mbad binary near-Earth asteroid never detected, consisting of two objects of almost identical size, orbiting each other", read the statement from NASA
Source: ] Arecibo / GBO / NSF / NASA / JPL-Caltech
New images produced by The telescopes are the most detailed ever of this type of binary asteroid and indicate that its two components are each about 3000 feet (900 meters) in size.The confirmed sizes are larger than the luminosity observations. initials, indicating that the objects are not reflective and therefore could be as dark as charcoal. surface compositions or roughness, or even densities. This may indicate that the binary asteroid was originally two separate objects that were lured into a mutual orbit in close proximity.
Current observations were made possible when YE5 2017 arrived less than 6 million kilometers from the Earth on June 21st. The first images were taken by NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar (GSSR) in California and have already given a glimpse of the scientists at the Puerto Rico Observatory Arecibo then badociated with the Observatory of the Green Bank (GBO) in West Virginia to perform a bi-static radar configuration to confirm whether 2017 YE5 composed of two separate objects. Eventually, all the telescopes were in agreement on the true binary nature of the asteroid.
A rare and unique discovery
The discovery is unique in the field. It is estimated that among the asteroids of more than 200 meters located near the Earth, only 15% are binaries "with a larger object and a much smaller satellite".
In addition, mbad binaries equal contacts, such as 2017 YE5, are even rarer and account for 15% of the large asteroids close to the Earth. These latter types of systems are called contact binaries.
"The discovery of the 2017 YE5 binary nature provides scientists with an important opportunity to improve understanding of different types of binaries and to study the mechanisms of training between binaries and contact binaries. Analysis of combined radar and optical observations could allow scientists to estimate the densities of YE5 2017 objects, which will improve understanding of their composition and internal structure, as well as their training. , concludes NASA.] (function (d, s, id) {
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