Asteroid Donaldjohanson wobbles as it rotates, Lucy flyby reveals

Asteroid Donaldjohanson wobbles as it rotates, Lucy flyby reveals

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists studying the inner main-belt asteroid Donaldjohanson have found that its rotation wobbles. Rather than rolling through space in a steady pattern, Donaldjohanson turns on two axes, rotating end over end once every 10.5 Earth days while wobbling around its horizontal axis every 26.5 days. The findings are published in the journal Science.

NASA Flyby Reveals Violent Origin of Weird Peanut-Shaped Asteroid

The oddly shaped rock is likely the byproduct of a catastrophic collision millions of years ago.

NASA's Lucy Mission Finds Evidence Of Ancient Water On Asteroid Donaldjohanson

Flyby data reveals that asteroid Donaldjohanson once harbored liquid water – and that small craters on its surface are vanishing faster than expected.

NASA's Lucy Reveals Wobbling, Peanut-Shaped Asteroid - NASA Science

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