Mikko Tuomi<p>It turns out there is more to the marvelous <a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/asteroid" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>asteroid</span></a> <a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/Dinkinesh" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Dinkinesh</span></a> and its newly discovered <a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/satellite" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>satellite</span></a> than first meets the eye.</p><p>As Lucy spacecraft continued to return data of its first asteroid encounter on Nov. 1, 2023, the team was surprised to discover that Dinkinesh’s unanticipated satellite is, itself, a contact <a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/binary" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>binary</span></a> – that is, it is made of two smaller objects touching each other.</p><p>Nature is indeed wonderful.</p><p><a href="https://scicomm.xyz/tags/astronomy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>astronomy</span></a><br><a href="https://science.nasa.gov/missions/lucy/nasas-lucy-surprises-again-observes-1st-ever-contact-binary-orbiting-asteroid/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">science.nasa.gov/missions/lucy</span><span class="invisible">/nasas-lucy-surprises-again-observes-1st-ever-contact-binary-orbiting-asteroid/</span></a></p>