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Moon (Dactyl) Discoved Orbiting Asteroid Ida

Posted by chrisd on from the trying-to-resist-bad-uranus/asteroids-joke dept.

Dot.Sig writes "Here is a picture and short description of an asteroid with its own moon." Taken by galileo during it's trip to jupiter. Sort of like those pics you take out the car window.... Here is the requisite NASA Press Release. Who names these thing, anyway? Not the first asteroid to be found to have a moon, but interesting regardless.

2 of 16 comments (clear)

  1. who names these things? by larry+bagina · · Score: 2, Funny
    Good question... if you had followed the link, you would know.
    The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has approved the name Dactyl for the tiny moon discovered this year in orbit around the asteroid Ida by NASA's Galileo mission.

    ...

    The name is derived from the Dactyli, a group of mythological beings who lived on Mount Ida, where the infant Zeus was hidden -- and raised, in some accounts -- by the nymph Ida and protected by the Dactyli. Other mythological accounts say that the Dactyli were Ida's children by Zeus.

    --
    Do you even lift?

    These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

  2. I remember.... by Muad'Dave · · Score: 3, Funny
    this. They had a contest to name the moon. I thought the most clever name for Ida's moon was Besida ("Beside-uh").

    --
    Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.