NASA's Lucy spacecraft visited a little asteroid called Dinkinesh last November
美国航天局的露西号宇宙飞船去年11月访问了一颗名为丁基内什的小行星
The visit, scientists say, unlocks a surprisingly interesting history of the asteroid along with its companion Selam
科学家说，这次访问揭示了这颗小行星及其同伴塞拉姆令人惊讶的有趣历史
Asteroids are ancient objects from the beginning of the solar system
小行星是太阳系初期的远古天体
They offer clues about how Earth and other planets formed about 4.5 billion years ago
它们提供了地球和其他行星大约45亿年前形成的线索
The U.S. space agency launched Lucy in 2021 on a 12-year mission to study asteroids
美国航天局于2021年发射露西，执行为期12年的小行星研究任务
The mission is especially interested in Jupiter's Trojan asteroids
任务对木星的特洛伊小行星特别感兴趣
two groups of space rocks that lead and follow the giant planet as it orbits the sun
当这颗巨大的行星围绕太阳运行时，两组太空岩石引领并跟随着它
On the way, Lucy flew past Dinkinesh and Selam in the inner edge of the main asteroid belt
途中Lucy飞过主小行星带内缘的Dinkinesh和Selam
The spacecraft observed ridges, trough structures and other features on Dinkinesh
航天器观察了丁基内什的脊、槽结构和其他特征
Dinkinesh has a diameter of nearly 720 meters
丁基内什的直径近720米
Selam is made up of two similarly sized lobes, one about 230 meters wide and the other about 210 meters
塞拉姆由两个大小相似的裂片组成，一个大约230米宽，另一个大约210米
Selam orbits Dinkinesh once about every 53 hours at a distance of about 3.1 kilometers
塞拉姆大约每53小时绕丁基尼斯轨道运行一次，距离约3.1公里
It appears, the researchers said, that a big piece of rock broke free sometime in the past from Dinkinesh
研究人员说，似乎有一大块岩石在过去的某个时候从丁基内什裂开了
The rock was about a quarter its total size, creating a trough on its surface and sending debris into space
这块岩石大约是其总体积的四分之一，在其表面形成了一个槽，并将碎片送入太空
Some of this debris, they said, fell back onto Dinkinesh's surface to form a ridge structure
他们说，其中一些碎片落回Dinkinesh的表面形成了脊状结构
Other materials came together to form Selam, becoming what is called a contact-binary moonlet
其他物质聚集在一起形成了Selam，形成了所谓的接触双星小卫星
Katherine Kretke, from the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, is a co-writer of the study published in Nature
来自科罗拉多州西南研究所的凯瑟琳·克雷克是发表在《自然》杂志上的这项研究的合著者
She said that “a contact-binary is when it appears that a single body is composed of two objects that collided gently enough not to become disrupted ”
她说，“接触双星是指一个物体似乎是由两个物体组成的，它们轻轻地碰撞而不会被打乱”
Kretke said they are common in the solar system, but Selam was “the first time a contact-binary has been observed orbiting another asteroid ”
克雷特克说它们在太阳系很常见，但是塞拉姆是“第一次观察到围绕另一颗小行星运行的接触双星”
Simone Marchi is another co-writer of the study
Simone Marchi是该研究的另一位合著者
He said, "A planet like Earth formed by the accumulation of countless small bodies, Understanding the properties of small asteroids such as Dinkinesh and Selam helps us to have a better picture of the earliest phases of planet formation ”
他说，“像地球这样的行星是由无数小天体积累而成的，了解丁基内什和塞勒姆等小行星的特性有助于我们更好地了解行星形成的最早阶段”
NASA's spacecraft was named for the Ethiopian fossil of the extinct human relative Australopithecus called “Lucy”
美国航天局的航天器被命名为埃塞俄比亚化石的灭绝人类亲属南方古猿称为"露西"
That fossil has provided information about early human beings, much like asteroids provide knowledge of planetary formation
这块化石提供了关于早期人类的信息，就像小行星提供了行星形成的知识一样
Dinkinesh is the Ethiopian name for the Lucy fossil, meaning "you are marvelous" in the Amharic language
Dinkinesh是露西化石的埃塞俄比亚名字，在阿姆哈拉语中的意思是“你太棒了”
Selam, the Ethiopian name for another Australopithecus fossil, means "peace" in Amharic
塞拉姆是另一块南方古猿化石的埃塞俄比亚名字，在阿姆哈拉语中是“和平”的意思
Lucy will next visit the asteroid Donaldjohanson in 2025 in the main asteroid belt
露西将在2025年访问小行星Donaldjohanson在主小行星带
The spacecraft is expected to visit 11 asteroids in total
飞船预计总共将访问11颗小行星
I’m Dan Novak
我是丹·诺瓦克