NASA's Lucy captures first close-ups of bizarre 'ice cream cone' asteroid

The asteroid Donaldjohanson as seen by the Lucy Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (L’LORRI) on NASA’s Lucy spacecraft during its flyby. (Image: NASA)

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft has snapped a curious asteroid this weekend. The strange object, named Donaldjohanson, showed a rare, double-lobed structure. It reminded scientists of stacked ice cream cones.

The asteroid was spotted during Lucy’s latest close encounter. The spacecraft flew just 960 kilometres above its surface on 20 April. Images were taken every two seconds during the flyby.

Contact binary with ridges and narrow neck
Donaldjohanson is what astronomers call a contact binary. It formed when two smaller objects gently collided and stuck together. The asteroid features ridges in its slim central region.

“Donaldjohanson has strikingly complicated geology,” said Hal Levison. He leads the Lucy mission and works at the Southwest Research Institute. He believes the features will help explain planetary formation.

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The object is larger than previously thought. It measures about 8 kilometres long and 3.5 kilometres wide. NASA’s images show its two lobes joined by a narrow neck.

Flyby adds to Lucy’s growing asteroid experience
Lucy launched in October 2021 to explore asteroids. Its first flyby happened in November 2023. That was when it visited asteroid Dinkinesh and its tiny companion moon, Selam.

Selam was also a contact binary, surprising scientists. Now, Donaldjohanson adds another to the list. Both lie in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

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NASA says these are warm-up visits before the main mission. Lucy aims to explore the Jupiter Trojans—asteroids caught in Jupiter’s gravity fields.

Trojan mission promises fresh solar system insights
Lucy will now spend months cruising the asteroid belt. Its first Trojan target is Eurybates, with a flyby planned in August 2027. Four more Trojan flybys are set between 2027 and 2033.

Tom Statler, NASA's Lucy programme scientist, praised the images. He called them a sign of the spacecraft’s strong abilities. “Lucy has the power to change how we see history,” he said.

NASA will now study data from Lucy’s cameras and instruments. This includes colour imagery, thermal readings, and infrared scans. Scientists hope the mission sheds light on early solar system processes.