Scientists say asteroid 300163 (2006 VW139), discovered in the solar system’s asteroid belt, is actually 2 asteroids orbiting each other. Hubble was used to image the asteroid, designated 300163 (2006 VW139), in September 2016 just before the asteroid made its closest approach to the Sun. This makes the object the first known binary asteroid that is also classified as a main-belt comet. The more recent Hubble observations revealed ongoing activity in the binary system. The combined features of the binary asteroid—wide separation, near-equal component size, high eccentricity orbit, and comet-like activity—also make it unique among the few known binary asteroids that have a wide separation.

Source: Mint September 21, 2017 08:15 UTC