Astronomers have discovered for the first time in our solar system one asteroids accompanied by three moons. This is “130 Electra”, in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, which seems to be quadruple.
Scientists knew that this asteroid has two companions and now they have discovered a third satellite of. They estimate that this is not the only case of an asteroid with more than two moons. So far, more than 150 asteroids with one or two satellites have been identified.
More than 150 asteroids are known to have one or two moons. But 130 Elektra is the first found to have three. https://t.co/GIU6P6rf5j
– NYT Science (@NYTScience) February 9, 2022
“Electra”, which was discovered in 1873, is a great one oval asteroid over 160 miles long, which completes an orbit around the Sun every five years. In 2003 its first satellite was discovered and in 2014 a second.
The researchers made the discovery with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile and published it in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, according to the New York Times. that the third satellite is about one mile in diameter, compared to 1.2 and 3.7 miles of the other two satellites. It moves 220 miles from the asteroid and completes an orbit around it every 16 hours.
Other astronomers have suggested that further observations may be needed to confirm the existence of the third satellite. Scientists estimate that the moons of “Electra” came after its collision with another object in the past, as they seem to come from the same material as it, so they are detached parts of it.
New telescopes, such as the Ultra Large Telescope (ELT) now being built in Chile, will allow the discovery of other asteroids with multiple companions, why not more than four.
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