The European Space Agency ’s Gaia spacecraft has not only create the most accuratemap of the Milky Way , it has also mensurate over 150,000 asteroid . And among that information , it found that hundreds of them might have a little moon . If confirm , it will end up nearly doubling the known number of binary asteroids .
It is not uncommon for asteroid to have a small associate . There ’s Didymos and Dimorphos , the latter place by theDART mission . Or asteroid Dinkinesh , visited by Lucy , which conceal not one buttwo little moons . Gaia ’s unbelievable precision in measuring the position and move of celestial objects has previously measure known binary asteroid . With that demonstration , it was able to take on finding Modern 1 .
“ Binary asteroids are difficult to find as they are mostly so minor and far away from us , ” lead generator Luana Liberato of Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur , France , said in astatement . “ Despite us expect just under one - one-sixth of asteroids to have a companion , so far we have only found 500 of the one billion live asteroid to be in binary systems . But this discovery shows that there are many asteroid moons out there just await to be found . ”
Gaia ’s Data Release 3was refined in a Focused Product Release that put a spotlight on the 156,823 asteroids it had measure . The work refined the original observations by ca-ca them 20 prison term more accurate . Using those fantastically accurate measurements , the team was able-bodied to find wobbles in the asteroids uniform with the mien of a companion . They found 352 candidates .
“ Gaia has proven to be an outstanding asteroid explorer , and is punishing at work bring out the arcanum of the cosmos both within and beyond the Solar System , ” added Timo Prusti , Project Scientist for Gaia at ESA . “ This finding highlight how each Gaia information release is a major whole tone up in data point quality , and demonstrates the astonishing new skill made possible by the mission . ”
The next full data point release from Gaia is expect in mid-2026 . In the meantime , the ballistic capsule is continuing to transmit its awful observations and uranologist keep to pore over the unbelievable data . And for those keen on binary asteroid , the Hera deputation launch in two months , to go and study Didymos and see the effect of the first - ever world protection exercise up close . It will reach the asteroid in October 2026 .
The study is publish inAstronomy & Astrophysics .
