1st Three-Headed Asteroid Found in Our Solar System — and It Has a Little Moon

The Asteroid That May Be Three Worlds

We have been watching asteroid (44) Nysa for well over a century without ever really knowing what it looks like. Now the sharpest images ever taken of it, from two of the largest telescopes on Earth, have revealed two deep valleys running right around its circumference and the team behind them think those are necks, joining three separate lobes into a single 75 kilometre body. If that holds up, Nysa is the first three lobed world we have ever fo…

Mysterious three-lobed asteroid appears to have own moon, scientists reveal

A mysterious three-lobed asteroid appears to have its own moon, scientists have revealed.The asteroid known as 44 Nysa was discovered nearly 170 years ago, back in 1857.Using some of the world's most powerful ground-based telescopes, researchers have finally been able to determine the asteroid's shape.The object appears to consist of three distinct lobes, each connected to the others by slender structural necks. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say…

This Asteroid Has 3 Lobes and a Secret Moon Scientists Didn't Expect

Nysa has a strange, three-lobed structure with two prominent valleys wrapped around it.

1st three-headed asteroid found in our solar system — and it has a little moon

Scientists have found the first triple-lobed asteroid in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter — and it has a small moon to boot.The asteroid in question is 44 Nysa, which was discovered all the way back in 1857. Of course, back then it was just a pinprick of light in the sky, and subsequent observations — including some from the Hubble Space Telescope — had failed to tell us much about Nysa. Those previous observations suggested Nysa might…

ASTEROID (44) NYSA MAY BE THE FIRST-KNOWN THREE

Previously unknown moon orbiting Nysa is also detected.