小行星Donaldjohanson
(原标题: Asteroid Donaldjohanson)
2025-04-25
浏览次数: 26
主小行星带52246 Donaldjohanson长约8公里，宽约3.5公里。4月20日，“露西”号宇宙飞船第二次与小行星相遇时，其远程相机在距离约1100公里处捕捉到了这颗小行星的清晰特写。这颗细长的小行星以美国古人类学家唐纳德·约翰逊的名字命名，他是露西原始人化石的发现者。这颗小行星可能是在大约1.5亿年前由两个较小的天体轻微碰撞形成的，形成了它特有的接触双星形状。“露西”号宇宙飞船于2021年10月发射，将在2025年继续穿越主要小行星带，但它正在探索木星的特洛伊小行星群。“露西”号预计将在2027年8月遇到它的第一个特洛伊小行星目标3548 Eurybates。
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Main belt asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson is about 8 kilometers long and 3.5 kilometers across. On April 20, this sharp close-up of the asteroid was captured at a distance of about 1100 kilometers by the Lucy spacecraft's long range camera during its second asteroid encounter. Named after American paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson, discoverer of the Lucy hominid fossil, the elongated asteroid was likely formed about 150 million years ago from a gentle collision of two smaller bodies creating its characteristic contact binary shape. Launched in October of 2021, the Lucy spacecraft will continue its travels through the main asteroid belt in 2025, but is on its way to explore Jupiter's swarm of Trojan asteroids. Lucy is expected to encounter its first Trojan asteroid target, 3548 Eurybates, in August 2027.