Ida and Dactyl: Asteroid and Moon
Explanation:
This
asteroid has a moon!
The
robot
spacecraft Galileo destined to explore the Jovian system,
encountered and photographed two
asteroids
during its long
interplanetary voyage to
Jupiter.
The second asteroid it photographed,
Ida,
was discovered to have
a moon which appears as a small dot to the right of Ida in
this
image from 1993.
The
tiny moon, named Dactyl, is about one mile across, while
the potato shaped Ida measures about 36 miles long and 14 miles wide.
Dactyl is the first moon of an asteroid ever discovered.
The names
Ida and
Dactyl are from Greek mythology.
Many other asteroids
are now known to
have
moons.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
