For over 100 years, this asteroid kept two secrets. Scientists just cracked both. 🌑
Using two of the largest telescopes on Earth, astronomers captured the sharpest images ever taken of asteroid (44) Nysa — revealing it's not one solid rock, but three separate lobes fused together by narrow "necks." Even more surprising: hidden in its glare, they found a tiny, previously unknown moon.
One researcher compared the discovery technique to "figuring out Christmas presents while they're wrapped" — carefully pulling the moon's faint light out from underneath the asteroid's brightness.
Key facts:
• Asteroid (44) Nysa, discovered in 1857
• New images: 3 fused lobes forming a 75 km body
• A newly found moon, ~1 km wide, orbiting at least 170 km away
• Captured using the Large Binocular Telescope (Arizona) & Very Large Telescope (Chile)
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#astronomy #space #solarsystem #galaxy #star #earth #moon #mars #jupiter #uranus #neptune #pluto #jameswebspacetelescope
