Weird Space by Angela Rieck

I was reading an article about the asteroid Dinkinesh, nicknamed Dinky, located in the asteroid belt. It has two moons that are fused together. This fused moon, called Salem, revolves around Dinky every 52.5 hours.

I thought that was very interesting and unique that an asteroid could have a moon until I discovered that it is not that uncommon. So far, astronomers have identified 200 asteroids with moons in the asteroid belt alone. Since the gravitational force of asteroids is quite small (due to their relatively small mass), astronomers believe that there are two likely explanations for these moons. 

A moon fragment could have split off from the original asteroid after a collision with another asteroid. This fragment would have to remain close enough to that asteroid to revolve around it. The other explanation is that a much smaller asteroid could have been pulled into the slight gravitational force of the larger asteroid. 

That got me to wondering about other weird things that might be out there in space.

Asteroids come in some pretty weird shapes. One of the strangest is Arrokoth which is located in the Kuiper Belt (where Pluto reigns as one of the largest asteroids/planets). In this icy world, Arrokoth looks like two dark red hockey pucks joined together to form a figure 8. Astronomers believe that the two lobes formed separately and merged within a cloud of particles. They believe Arrokoth is primordial — existing since the beginning of the solar system. 

But we don’t have to really get past the asteroid belt to see some unique asteroids. There is Kleopatra which is shaped like a dog bone and sports two moons.

Another asteroid, Oumuamua is the first confirmed object from another star system to be welcomed into our solar system. This interstellar interloper is a cigar-shaped object with a reddish tint. The object is about ten times as long as it is wide.

Asteroids come in all shapes and sizes, and some are notable because of their behavior, Toutatis is shaped like a violin and instead of rotating in an orderly fashion around an axis it chaotically tumbles. At some point, Toutatis’ path may sweep close to Earth, but because it is so random, there is no way of predicting how close it will get.

Then there are the exoplanets. 

Exoplanets are planets orbiting stars beyond our solar system. Since the first confirmed discoveries in the 1990s, the list of exoplanets has been rapidly expanding. Astronomers estimate that for every star we see in the night sky, there is at least one exoplanet orbiting it. Exoplanets were originally believed to have the best chance of finding life. To date, none of the known exoplanets appear to be capable of supporting life as we know it, but some are quite unusual.

One of them, affectionately known as Exoplanet HD 189733b, rains glass sideways with winds ten times faster than we have ever experienced on earth. Basically, if space travelers made the mistake of dropping in on this exoplanet, they would be torn to shreds in seconds.

It is possible that exoplanet 55 Cancri is made of diamonds. It was thought to be so abundant in carbon that, thanks to immense pressure and 2,700°C temperatures, its interior may consist of a very large diamond.

TrES-2b is the darkest known exoplanet, reflecting less than 1% of any light that hits it. It is the darkest planet or moon ever discovered and orbits a star that is 750 lightyears away. 

Exoplanet KELT-9b is hotter than many stars. It orbits so close to its star that its surface sizzles at 4,300°C and its year lasts less than a day and a half.

My favorite exoplanet is WASP-107 b, also called the puffy marshmallow planet. It is one of the least dense exoplanets ever discovered, to the extent that its interior has been likened to a toasted marshmallow. If only it was composed of sugar instead of poisonous gases.

And then there are the moons.

Our moon is little more than a pock-marked sphere, but other planets have more imaginative moons. Saturn has two potato -shaped moons, Janus and Pandora. Jupiter has the moon Enceladus, which along with Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede, is believed to have massive liquid-water oceans underneath its icy covering. Having large amounts of liquid water available could be enough to support a human colony. Of course, you would have to wear a very heavy jacket as its temperature is about minus 330 degrees Fahrenheit.

With the Webb, Hubble, and other less-known telescopes we have been able to see remarkable images, including the birth of a galaxy. I am convinced that they will reveal many new outer space oddities to add to my collection.