मार्च 28, 2024

Rajneeti Guru

राजनीति, व्यापार, मनोरंजन, प्रौद्योगिकी, खेल, जीवन शैली और अधिक पर भारत से आज ही नवीनतम भारत समाचार और ताज़ा समाचार प्राप्त करें

नासा की लुसी टीम द्वारा क्षुद्रग्रह पॉलीमिली के चारों ओर चंद्रमा की खोज की गई

Lucy Trojan Asteroid Mission
क्षुद्रग्रह मिशन लुसी ट्रोजन

लुसी बृहस्पति के ट्रोजन क्षुद्रग्रहों का पता लगाएगी – जिन्हें “ग्रह निर्माण के जीवाश्म” माना जाता है। श्रेय: नासा का गोडार्ड स्पेस फ़्लाइट सेंटर

उससे पहले भी रिहाई अक्टूबर 2021 में,[{” attribute=””>NASA’s Lucy mission was already on course to break records by visiting more asteroids than any previous mission. Now, the mission can add one more asteroid to the list, after a surprise result from a long-running observation campaign.

Lucy’s science team discovered on March 27 that the smallest of the mission’s Trojan asteroid targets, Polymele, has a satellite of its own. On that day, Polymele was expected to pass in front of a star. This would allow the team to observe the star blink out as the asteroid briefly blocked, or occulted, it. The Lucy team planned to measure the location, size, and shape of Polymele with unprecedented precision while it was outlined by the star behind it. To do so, they spread 26 teams of professional and amateur astronomers across the path where the occultation would be visible.

Asteroid Polymele

A graphic showing the observed separation of asteroid Polymele from its discovered satellite. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

These occultation campaigns have been enormously successful in the past, providing valuable information to the mission on its asteroid targets, but this day would hold a special bonus.

We were thrilled that 14 teams reported observing the star blink out as it passed behind the asteroid. However, as we analyzed the data, we saw that two of the observations were not like the others,” said Marc Buie, Lucy occultation science lead at the Southwest Research Institute, which is headquartered in San Antonio. “Those two observers detected an object around 200 km (about 124 miles) away from Polymele. It had to be a satellite.”

Trojan Asteroid Polymele and Satellite

A graphic showing the observed separation of asteroid Polymele from its discovered satellite. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Using the occultation data, the scientists determined that this satellite is roughly 3 miles (5 km) in diameter, orbiting Polymele, which is itself around 17 miles (27 km) along its widest axis. The observed distance between the two bodies was approximately 125 miles (200 km).

Following planetary naming conventions, the satellite will not be issued an official name until the team can determine its orbit. As the satellite is too close to Polymele to be clearly seen by Earth-based or Earth-orbiting telescopes – without the help of a fortuitously positioned star – that determination will have to wait until Lucy approaches the asteroid in 2027, unless the team gets lucky with future occultation attempts before then.

At the time of the observation, Polymele was 480 million miles (770 million km) from Earth. Those distances are roughly equivalent to finding a quarter on a sidewalk in Los Angeles – while trying to spot it from a skyscraper thousands of miles away in Manhattan.

Satellite Orbiting Polymele

Using the occultation data, the team assessed that this satellite is roughly 3 miles (5 km) in diameter, orbiting Polymele, which is itself around 17 miles (27 km) along its widest axis. The observed distance between the two bodies was about 125 miles (200 km). Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Asteroids hold vital clues to deciphering the history of the solar system – perhaps even the origins of life. Solving these mysteries is a high priority for NASA. The Lucy team originally planned to visit one main belt asteroid and six Trojan asteroids, a previously unexplored population of asteroids that lead and follow Jupiter in its orbit around the Sun. In January of 2021, the team used the Hubble Space Telescope to discover that one of the Trojan asteroids, Eurybates, has a small satellite. Now with this new satellite, Lucy is on track to visit nine asteroids on this remarkable 12-year voyage.

“Lucy’s tagline started out: 12 years, seven asteroids, one spacecraft,” said Lucy program scientist Tom Statler at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We keep having to change the tagline for this mission, but that’s a good problem to have.”


9 जनवरी, 2020 को लूसी मिशन ने आधिकारिक तौर पर घोषणा की कि वह सात नहीं, बल्कि आठ क्षुद्रग्रहों का दौरा करेगा। जैसा कि यह पता चला है, लुसी के रास्ते के क्षुद्रग्रहों में से एक, यूरीबेट्स का एक छोटा उपग्रह है। लूसी की टीम द्वारा उपग्रह की खोज के कुछ ही समय बाद, वह और यूरीबेट्स सूर्य के पीछे चले गए, जिससे टीम को इसे और अधिक देखने से रोक दिया गया। हालांकि, जुलाई 2020 में क्षुद्रग्रह सूर्य के पीछे से दिखाई दिए, और तब से, लुसी की टीम हबल के साथ कई अवसरों पर उपग्रह का निरीक्षण करने में सक्षम रही है, जिससे टीम को उपग्रह की कक्षा को सटीक रूप से निर्धारित करने और अंत में छोटे उपग्रह को पहुंच प्राप्त करने की अनुमति मिलती है। आधिकारिक नाम – क्वेटा।

लुसी का प्रमुख अन्वेषक सैन एंटोनियो, टेक्सास में स्थित साउथवेस्ट रिसर्च इंस्टीट्यूट की एक शाखा बोल्डर, कोलोराडो में काम करता है। मैरीलैंड के ग्रीनबेल्ट में नासा का गोडार्ड स्पेस फ्लाइट सेंटर व्यापक मिशन प्रबंधन, सिस्टम इंजीनियरिंग, सुरक्षा और मिशन आश्वासन प्रदान करता है। लॉकहीड मार्टिन स्पेस कॉर्पोरेशन ऑफ लिटलटन, कोलोराडो ने अंतरिक्ष यान का निर्माण किया। लूसी नासा के डिस्कवरी प्रोग्राम का तेरहवां मिशन है। अलबामा के हंट्सविले में नासा का मार्शल स्पेस फ्लाइट सेंटर, वाशिंगटन में एजेंसी के विज्ञान मिशन निदेशालय के लिए खोज कार्यक्रम का प्रबंधन करता है।

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