Asteroid ‘Dog-Bone’ is weirder than we thought

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To get into the details of Cleopatra’s shape and find her moons, Marches explained in an email: “We need to overcome the blurring effect of Earth’s atmosphere.” “This was made possible thanks to the adaptive optics on a telescope as large as the VLT.” TTo achieve the desired level of quality, the team used the Exoplanet High Contrast Polarization Spectroscopy (SPHERE) instrument mounted on the VLT.

SPHERE is one of them-The current generation of adaptive optical systems can operate in visible light,” Marches said. “As a result, It provides an image in optical light – in this case red – at the full resolution of the 8-meter telescope, as if the VLT were in outer space. He added: “Thanks to the excellent image quality, we can now see details about the shape of the asteroid, and see the lobes and bridges that connect them.”

Astronomers have known about this object for a long time. Cleopatra was discovered by Czech astronomer Johan Baleza in 1880, namely It seemed to get weirder with each subsequent note. Astronomers discovered the first two moons in 1980, as a result of a coincidental eclipse. Radar observations in 2000 showed a very unusual shape, causing it to be called the “dog bone asteroid”, because the body appears to have two lobes connected by a relatively narrow “neck”. In 2011, a team led by Marches announced the discovery of a second moon, which they discovered using the Keck II optical telescope. The moons were officially recognized and named for Cleopatra’s children.

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Even though this Note, there are still many questions. The orbits of AlexHelios and CleoSelene must be brought closer Since we have multiple data points,“And Cleopatra looks similar, ‘So we can’t say with certainty the density of the asteroid or the origin of the moon,'” Marches explained.. “We already know that this triple asteroid system is unique because of its shape [Kleopatra]. Other outstanding questions relate to body size, orbit, and rotation. As such, the new study greatly expands our understanding of this unique tertiary system.

Watch Cleopatra’s team and the moons In 2017 and 2019 from different angles, resulting in a 3D view of the asteroid. The team got a better idea size I learned that one of the lobes is larger than the other.

Besides, they I finally determined the exact orbital of month. As it turned out, the previous estimate was completely wrong, which led to the wrong conclusion. The updated orbital calculations are important because it allows them to calculate the asteroid’s actual mass and radius (or at least, a better estimate of these factors), said Miroslav Broch, an astronomer at Charles University in the Czech Republic and first author of the book. second. paper.

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Another major discovery showed that the asteroid was orbiting close to its critical speed. Faster, which is a risk of collapsing. The body rotates once every five hours.

“In fact, we know more accurately, it’s 5,3852827 hours,” Broy said in an email. “This may seem normal for an asteroid, but Cleopatra was so high that the rotational speed at the tip was very close to the escape velocity.” Brož refers to The speed required for an object to escape its gravitational limit. He suspected that if Coepatra collided with another asteroid, it could cause a faster spin, causing it to self-destruct.

With the correct orbitals selected, the team came up with a number for NSblok leopatra 35% lower than previous estimates. Cleopatra was a metal body, but it seemed to be less than half the density of iron. This suggests that the asteroid is a porous ‘debris mound’ formed by a large impact. Cleopatra was a relatively loose collection of small objects, but because of her high rotational speed, she was actually able to spew some debris into space. And in fact, this might explain how AlexHelios and CleoSelene came about.

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“Due to the shape and rotation of the main asteroid, we calculated that some of Cleopatra’s region was … It’s unstable, which means rocks there will be thrown off,” Marches explained. “We haven’t been able to prove it yet, but it’s possible that the moons were indeed the children of a large asteroid, which was ejected after an oblique collision. And it was formed by the accumulation of pebbles and stones that were ejected.”

Astronomers are aware of other very elongated asteroids, such as the Trojan asteroid 624 Hector and main belt asteroid 121 Hermione. Marches said it might not be a coinover thereDrprofessionm that bothAsteroids have their own moon.

The team also learned new things about the two months. AlexHelios is footballBetween the two, it was 407 miles (655 km) from Cleopatra, while Cleocline was 310 miles (499 km) (measured from Cleopatra’s center). The size of the moon is slightly smaller than 6 miles (10 km). And maybe round, but scientists don’t really know.

“We hope they will be observed in the future, during disappearance events, when Cleopatra and the moon pass in front of the star, so observers on Earth can measure their shadows,” said Broy.

Looking to the future, the team wants to re-measure the moon’s orbit, which they plan to do next year. that they anticipation To find some abnormality in their movements, due to the effects of ups and downs and unexpected disturbances due to Cleopatra’s unusual shape. Finding a third moon isn’t beyond the realm of possibility, Marches said.

In fact, astronomers have been watching this dog bone An asteroid for over 140 years, and there’s no reason to believe that it won’t continue to be weird.

again: This is one of the strangest things ever discovered in the solar system.

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