The Lucy spacecraft that was launched in 2021 has caught the first clear glimpse of Donaldjohanson in the main asteroid belt. NASA has released images of the asteroid that appears like a smidge of light in photos captured by Lucy’s LOng Range Reconnaissance Imager (or L’LORRI, for short). The mission was launched in 2021 to study Trojan asteroids that travel around the Sun with Jupiter and three others in the solar system. 

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Asteroid Donaldjohanson is not a Trojan, but its position in the solar system means that Lucy would be able to conduct a flyby near it. Lucy's ultimate goal is to reach the Trojans near Jupiter, study their composition and learn more about where they possibly originated.

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The asteroid is named after anthropologist Donaldjohanson who discovered the fossilized hominid Lucy in 1974. Lying in the main asteroid belt, it is roughly four kilometres in diameter.

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The current photos show Donaldjohanson at a distance of 70 million kilometres from Lucy. However, the probe will keep on closing in and carry out an extremely close flyby of the asteroid on 20 April 2025.

Asteroid Donaldjohanson
Asteroid Donaldjohanson is not a Trojan. Photograph: (NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL)

 

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At this point, Lucy will pass by Donaldjohanson at a distance of 960 kilometres.

Why is Donaldjohanson special?

Donaldjohanson is just a stop in Lucy's journey. However, scientists are intrigued to learn more about the asteroid as it is believed to be a piece of debris left behind following a massive collision about 130 million years ago. This cosmic event supposedly created the Erigone family of asteroids, as per the Lucy mission site.

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Lucy and asteroid Dinkinesh

Earlier, Lucy snapped asteroid Dinkinesh and its tiny moon in November 2023. The discovery was historic as the moon, named Selam, was found to comprise two smaller objects that were touching each other. This is known as a contact binary and was the first such instance where it was found to be orbiting an asteroid. 

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What are Trojan asteroids?

The first Trojan asteroid Lucy would reach is Eurybates, about 64 kilometres across. The aim of the Eurybates flyby is to understand why the Trojan asteroids are moving together in front of Jupiter. These asteroids are believed to be remnants of the same primordial material that led to the creation of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. However, they are all different in composition and might have drifted from various parts of the solar system.