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It has been confirmed that Dinkinesh, the first object of observation by the asteroid probe Lucy, has a contact binary as a satellite. Contact binaries are strange celestial bodies in which mass exchange occurs, and the academic world has paid attention to them because they are rarely observed.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently released photos of Dinkinesh and its satellite taken by the probe Lucy through its official channel. The image was taken with the high-resolution telephoto camera L’LORRI by Lucy, who was on a flyby (close pass) about 1,630 km away from Dinkinesi around 2 a.m. on the 2nd.

The asteroid on the left of the photo below is Dinkinesh, and the asteroid on the right is Dinkinesh’s satellite, which was first confirmed in this flyby. What is unique is that the satellite has the shape of two objects touching each other.

Asteroid Dinkinesh (left) photographed by Lucy during her flyby. The two small satellites on the right are believed to be contact binaries. <사진=NASA 공식 홈페이지>

In relation to this, a NASA official said, “It seems that Dinkinesh is a contact binary star, that is, carrying two asteroids that have come into contact with each other as satellites. There are not many cases of contact binary stars observed, and it is rare to take such detailed photos.” .

NASA already announced through its official channel on the 2nd that Dinkinesh has a satellite. However, the fact that this satellite is a contact binary was confirmed belatedly with a time lag.

A contact binary refers to a binary star in which the distance between stars is so close that some of their surfaces are glued together or almost merged, sharing the outer gas layer. It is observed in some areas such as Ursa Major, but it is unusual for this feature to be confirmed on a small satellite of an asteroid such as Dinkinesh, which is less than 1 km in diameter.

The Lucy probe observes 11 asteroids in the asteroid belt. <사진=NASA 공식 홈페이지>

NASA added that Lucy has been sending valuable information to Earth since its first exploration. LUCY was developed to look into asteroids in Jupiter’s Trojan group. Jupiter’s Trojan group is one of a group of asteroids that orbit the sun. Among the Lagrange points where the gravity of the Sun and Jupiter and the centrifugal force applied to celestial bodies are balanced, asteroids are distributed around the L4 point (in front of Jupiter as it orbits) and around the L5 point (behind as it orbits Jupiter) in Jupiter’s orbit.

LUCY, launched in October 2021, began full-scale observations this month, two years later. It was planned to sequentially look at 10 asteroids orbiting the asteroid belt for 12 years until 2033, but with the later discovery of Dinkinesh, the number of observation targets increased to 11.

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Research results have shown that there was a rapid increase in oxygen in the early universe. The general view was that in the early universe after the Big Bang, only light elements such as hydrogen, helium, and trace amounts of lithium existed, and that oxygen was created only after stars were born and a supernova explosion occurred.

A joint research team from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and the University of Tokyo held a press conference on the 9th and claimed that a rapid increase in oxygen abundance in the universe was confirmed about 13.1 to 13.3 billion years ago.

There are many theories about the birth of the universe, and the Big Bang theory, which states that the universe was formed after the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, is the most influential. Scholars who claim this believe that only light elements existed in the newly created universe at the time of the Big Bang, but over time, as stars formed and went through nuclear fusion reactions to become supernova, heavy elements such as oxygen were sprinkled into the galaxy.

Images of six galaxies from 13.1 to 13.3 billion years ago obtained with NIRSPec. Given the low oxygen abundance in each galaxy, it can be inferred that oxygen increased rapidly between 500 and 700 million years after the universe was born. <사진=NAOJ·미 항공우주국(NASA) 공식 홈페이지>

Using large-scale observation data from the James Webb Space Telescope, the research team was able to look into the space environment 13.3 billion years ago, 500 million years after the Big Bang. Kimihiko Nakajima, special assistant professor at NAOJ, said, “We succeeded in finding 138 primordial galaxies 12 billion years ago, which had been almost impossible until now, and measuring the oxygen abundance inside them. This was achieved using the near-infrared spectrometer (NIRSPec) of the James Webb Space Telescope. “It was possible because we had observational data,” he said.

In this process, the research team detected a rapid increase in oxygen in galaxies formed between 500 and 700 million years after the creation of the universe. The research team attached significance to this as very important information for accurately determining when oxygen, which is essential for the Earth and life, existed in outer space.

Assistant Professor Nakajima said, “Looking at the images of six galaxies from 13.1 to 13.3 billion years ago obtained with NIRSPec, it is clearly revealed that the oxygen abundance is low.” He added, “The oxygen abundance of galaxies until 13.1 billion years ago was not much different from the present, suggesting the birth of the universe. “We can see that oxygen increased rapidly between 500 and 700 million years ago,” he explained.

The James Webb Space Telescope begins observation activities in 2022. By capturing phenomena that previous observation equipment could not capture, many theories of the universe are changing. <사진=NASA 공식 홈페이지>

He continued, “Contrary to the expectations of scholars so far, we can infer that the oxygen abundance in the galaxy has already increased rapidly 13.1 to 13.3 billion years ago, reaching the present.” He added, “The time when life was first born in the universe is much earlier than previously expected.” “It may be fast,” he emphasized.

The James Webb Space Telescope, which began full operation in July 2022, looks into deep space through infrared observation equipment of various wavelengths. As scholars observed more distant galaxies and celestial bodies that were previously unknown, several space-related theories and hypotheses were revised in just over a year.

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Technology has emerged to help humans maintain their sense of balance even in outer space. Tests of wearable equipment using this technology yielded significant results, drawing attention from academia.

A research team at Brandeis University in the United States unveiled Vibrotractor, a wearable device that helps humans maintain their sense of balance in microgravity space, through official channels on the 10th.

The research team has been designing technology to help humans properly distinguish between up, down, left and right in preparation for when humans one day enter space. On Earth, gravity acts on the otoliths in the human inner ear (an organ located near the root of the semicircular canal that senses gravity or the direction of the body), allowing the person to perceive the tilt from the equilibrium point, but in space without gravity, the sense of direction is lost.

It is difficult for people to maintain balance on planets outside the Earth or in outer space due to the influence of microgravity. <사진=NASA 공식 홈페이지>

The research team, which wanted to overcome biological constraints through technology, created a vibrotractor equipped with a small rotating shaft. When this is attached to an arm or leg, it vibrates to notify when a person’s body is tilted or upside down.

The research team gathered 30 test subjects to examine the performance of the vibrotractor. The research team divided them into three groups: A, B, and C. Group A had no practice, Group B was equipped with only a vibrotractor, and Group C was equipped with a vibrotractor and practiced before testing their sense of balance.

Group C subjects riding the special rotating device generally maintained correct posture up, down, left and right. They soon regained their balance thanks to the vibration that alerted them when their bodies were out of alignment. Groups A and B had more difficulty maintaining balance than group C.

Astronauts are trained to maintain their sense of balance in preparation for exposure to a microgravity environment. <사진=NASA 공식 홈페이지>

An experiment official said, “Given the current speed and level of space development and technology, it is highly likely that humans will someday live on other planets or colonies. Humans are affected by various influences in a microgravity environment, but maintaining a sense of balance is the most important.” said.

This official said, “If we can maintain equilibrium with the help of a small device such as a vibrotractor, it will be quite useful when staying in space for a long time.” He added, “If we maintain proper balance in microgravity space, the burden that space places on the human body may be reduced.” “He added.

In future experiments, the research team plans to recreate a gravitational environment at the level of the Moon or Mars and investigate the effects of the vibrotractor. The research team expected that if significant results were obtained here, it would be possible to put it into practice.

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It has been claimed that the exoplanet ‘GJ 367b’, located about 31 light years away from Earth, is composed mostly of iron. ‘GJ 367b’, first observed in 2021, is an ultra-short-period planet that orbits the main star in about 7.7 hours.

In a recently released observation report, a research team from the University of Turin, Italy, reported that the average density of the exoplanet ‘GJ 367b’ in the constellation Mast is about 10.2 g per 1 cm3. This is 1.85 times that of the Earth, which is 5.51g per 1㎤, suggesting that its constituent material may be mainly iron.

The identity of ‘GJ 367b’ was revealed in the process of analyzing observation information from NASA’s exoplanet exploration telescope ‘TESS’. It orbits about 0.007 astronomical units (about 1.05 million km) away from the main star, the red dwarf ‘GJ 367’, with a period of about 7.7 hours. Because it is close to the main star, its surface temperature is estimated to reach 1,100 degrees Celsius.

GJ 367b orbits the red dwarf GJ 367 in about 7.7 hours. <사진=NASA 공식 홈페이지>

The research team closely observed ‘GJ 367b’, which is attracting attention for its extremely short orbital period, for nearly two years. In this process, it was found that the radius of ‘GJ 367b’ is about 0.699 times that of the Earth, and the mass is about 0.633 times that of the Earth.

An investigation official said, “We observed ‘GJ 367b’ using the 3.6m telescope of the La Silla Observatory in Chile operated by the European Southern Astronomical Observatory (ESO),” and added, “HARPS (High Accuracy), a high-precision radial velocity exoplanet exploration device mounted on the telescope. “We found the mass of ‘GJ 367b’ using ‘Radial Velocity Planet Searcher’,” he said.

The radial velocity method indirectly observes exoplanets through the movement of the main star, which slightly shakes in a circle according to the exoplanet’s orbit. As the main star fluctuates according to the planet’s revolution, the color of the light periodically changes from blue when the main star approaches the Earth to red when it moves away. In order to capture the color change of this star, a spectroscopic observation device is needed.

NASA’s TES exoplanet exploration telescope. An exoplanet, LP 791-18d, 90 light years away was discovered. <사진=NASA 공식 홈페이지>

An investigation official said, “As a result of analyzing the internal structure of ‘GJ 367b’, it is reasonable to assume that about 91% of the total mass is a core made of iron.” “It’s rare,” he emphasized.

The research team considered the possibility that ‘GJ 367b’ was originally born in an iron-rich environment, or that the rocky mantle surrounding the iron core was peeled off after the planet was created. The research team’s position is that high-precision observations using additional equipment, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, are needed to know exactly which is correct.

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A probe to investigate the asteroid ’16 Psyche’, which is expected to be worth 1,000 quintillion dollars, will be launched after the 12th of this month. The mission execution date was delayed by about a week compared to initially expected.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on the 2nd through its official channel that ‘Psyche’, which will explore ’16 Psyche’, will fly into outer space after the 12th. NASA delayed the mission timing somewhat to inspect the nitrogen gas injectors.

An illustration of the 16 Saiki asteroids, which appear to have exposed the interior of the Earth’s surface after a collision. <사진=NASA 공식 홈페이지>

The ‘Saiki’ probe will investigate the ’16 Saiki’ asteroid orbiting the sun in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. NASA raised expectations by announcing on its official SNS on July 8 last year that the ‘Saiki’ probe had completed most of its assembly and began comprehensive inspection.

At the end of last month, more than a year later, NASA decided to launch the ‘Psyche’ probe on October 5 and began final inspections. During this process, when a problem was discovered with the injector that uses nitrogen gas, the schedule was readjusted.

An illustration of the Psyche probe approaching 16 Psyches valued at 1 trillion dollars. <사진=NASA 공식 홈페이지>

The ’16 Saiki’ asteroid is so rich in nickel, iron, and gold that it has been called a ‘cosmic bonanza’. This asteroid, with a diameter of about 226 km, rotates vertically, and it is presumed that part of the core broke through the surface due to a collision for unknown reasons.

The ‘Psyche’ mission was originally scheduled for 2022, but the launch date continued to be postponed due to budget issues. If it is mounted on Space

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