Astronomers Capture First Images of a 'Three-Headed' Asteroid with a Small Moon

New images captured by the Very Large Telescope in Chile and the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona have revealed asteroid Nysa to possess a unique 'trilobate' or 'three-headed' structure. The asteroid, approximately 47 miles (75 kilometers) in circumference, features two narrow 'necks'. Even more remarkably, astronomers also resolved a 0.6-mile-wide (1-km-wide) moon, designated S/2026 (44) 1, orbiting Nysa at a distance of about 106 miles (170 km).