The Lucy spacecraft sent the first images of the asteroid Dinkinesh. He had his own companion

NASA's Lucy interplanetary station made its first flyby of the Main Belt asteroid Dinkinesh. having done a series of clear photographs. As it turns out, he has his own satellite.

The spacecraft flew past the object at a speed of 16,000 kilometers per hour. At closest approach, the distance between them was only 430 kilometers.

Asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh was discovered back in 1999. Thanks to observations from Earth, scientists have determined that the diameter of its elongated body is approximately 760 meters, and it rotates very slowly. However, until now no one had suspected that this was actually a double system. The size of the second object is estimated at 220 meters.

Lucy is a NASA mission to study Jupiter's Trojan asteroids. It started on October 16, 2021. During its journey, the interplanetary station must fly past 10 different bodies. Next on its path will be asteroid (52246) Donaldjohanson. Their meeting is expected to take place on April 20, 2025.