The asteroid Donaldjohanson as seen by the Lucy Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (L’LORRI). This is one of the most detailed images returned by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft during its flyby. This image was taken at 1:51 p.m. EDT (17:51 UTC), April 20, 2025, near closest approach, from a range of approximately 660 miles (1,100 km). The spacecraft’s closest approach distance was 600 miles (960 km), but the image shown was taken approximately 40 seconds beforehand. The image has been sharpened and processed to enhance contrast.
NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft took this image of the main belt asteroid Donaldjohanson during its flyby on April 20, 2025, showing the elongated contact binary (an object formed when two smaller bodies collide). This was Lucy’s second flyby in the spacecraft’s 12-year mission.
Launched on Oct. 16, 2021, Lucy is the first space mission sent to explore a diverse population of small bodies known as the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These remnants of our early solar system are trapped on stable orbits associated with – but not close to – the giant planet Jupiter. Lucy will explore a record-breaking number of asteroids, flying by three asteroids in the solar system’s main asteroid belt, and by eight Trojan asteroids that share an orbit around the Sun with Jupiter. April 20, 2025 marked Lucy’s second flyby. The spacecraft’s next target is Trojan asteroid Eurybates and its satellite Queta in Aug. 2027.
Lucy is named for a fossilized skeleton of a prehuman ancestor. This flyby marked the first time NASA sent a spacecraft to a planetary body named after a living person. Asteroid Donaldjohanson was unnamed before becoming a target. The name Donaldjohanson was chosen in honor of the paleoanthropologist who discovered the Lucy fossil, Dr. Donald Johanson.
Learn more about Lucy’s flyby of asteroid Donaldjohanson.
Image credit: NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab
唐纳德·约翰森小行星（Donaldjohanson）的图像由露西号探测器上的远程侦察成像仪（L’LORRI）拍摄，这是美国国家航空航天局（NASA）露西号飞掠期间获取的最清晰图像之一。该图像拍摄于美国东部时间2025年4月20日下午1:51（协调世界时17:51），接近最接近点时，从约660英里（1,100公里）的距离拍摄。虽然飞掠最接近距离为600英里（960公里），但此图像拍摄于约40秒之前。图像经过锐化和对比度增强处理，以更清晰地呈现细节。
NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab
2025年4月20日，露西号在其为期12年的任务中完成了第二次小行星飞掠，成功捕捉到主带小行星唐纳德·约翰森小行星的图像。图中所示物体为接触双星——由两个较小天体相撞形成的椭长形天体。露西号于2021年10月16日发射，是首个专门前往木星特洛伊小行星群开展探索的太空任务。这些小行星是太阳系早期遗留下来的残骸，被困于与木星相关但相对稳定的轨道上。整个任务中，露西号将创纪录地飞掠访问11颗小行星：其中包括3颗主带小行星以及8颗与木星共享轨道的特洛伊小行星。2025年4月的这次飞掠是任务中的第二站，其下一个目标是2027年8月将探访的特洛伊小行星欧律贝茨（Eurybates）及其卫星奎塔（Queta）。
露西号探测器的名称源于人类远古祖先的化石“露西”。此次飞掠亦标志着NASA首次向以在世人物命名的行星天体派遣航天器。在成为探测目标前，该小行星尚未命名，后被命名为唐纳德·约翰森小行星，以纪念露西化石的发现者、人类学家唐纳德·约翰森博士。
图片来源: NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab
