{"id":162736,"date":"2022-08-25T21:38:57","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T21:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=162736"},"modified":"2022-08-25T21:38:57","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T21:38:57","slug":"nasa-amazed-after-finding-new-mini-moon-at-edge-of-solar-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/world-news\/nasa-amazed-after-finding-new-mini-moon-at-edge-of-solar-system\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA amazed after finding new ‘mini moon’ at edge of solar system"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA has revealed that its scientists have discovered a previously undetected 'mini-moon' orbiting an asteroid at the far edge of the solar system.<\/p>\n

The rocky satellite which is about five kilometres in diameter was found orbiting a small asteroid near Jupiter, named Polymele.<\/p>\n

Polymele, is itself around 17 miles (27 kilometres) along its widest axis, and if the object orbiting it is confirmed to be a satellite, it would make it one of the smallest moons ever spotted.<\/p>\n

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The moon was spotted by the NASA team working on the Lucy mission, which sent a space probe to the edge of the star system to collect data on some of the Trojan asteroids, which are two large clusters of rocks located on each side of Jupiter in its orbit.<\/p>\n

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In a statement, NASA said: \u201cOn March 27, Lucy\u2019s science team discovered that the smallest of the mission\u2019s Trojan asteroid targets, Polymele, has a satellite of its own.\u201d<\/p>\n

On that day, the asteroid was in front of a distant star, which allowed the researchers to accurately study the space rock\u2019s size.<\/p>\n

They did so by observing how much the star\u2019s light was blocked out by the asteroid, however, in doing so they spotted a smaller blip whiz past following Polymele.<\/p>\n

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