Dinkinesh asteroid

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About Dinkinesh asteroid:

It was discovered in 1999 by the LINEAR survey.
Dinkinesh is a slow rotator with moderately large light-curve amplitude.
It is an S-type asteroid means it is composed mainly of silicates and some metal.
It will be the first fly-by target of the Lucy mission on 2023 November 1, during its cruise to the Trojan clouds.
The observations were made by Lucy’s high-resolution camera, the Lucy LOng Range Reconnaissance Imager ( L’LORRI instrument ).

Key Facts about Lucy Mission

It was launched by NASA from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in 2021.
It is a 12-year mission which will take close observations of nine of Jupiter’s Trojans and two main belt asteroids along with that.
It is the first spacecraft sent to study the Trojan asteroids, which orbit the Sun in the same path that the planet Jupiter takes.
It has recently captured the images of Eurybates, Polymele, Leucus and Leucus asteroids.

Q1) What is asteroid ?

An asteroid is a small, rocky object that orbits the Sun in our solar system. These celestial bodies vary in size from a few meters to hundreds of kilometers across. Most asteroids are found in the asteroid belt, a region of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, although some can be found throughout the solar system.

Source: Lucy captures first image of Dinkinesh on its way to ancient asteroids