Lucy provides a comprehensive look at the main belt asteroid Donald Johansson

NASA’s Lucy Mission is actively examining images obtained during its encounter with the carbonaceous asteroid Donald Johansson on April 20, 2025.



Donald Johanson is located on NASA’s Lucy spacecraft, approximately 2,700 km (1,700 miles) away, about 3.2 minutes before closest approach on April 20, 2025. The lighting conditions, which are primarily behind Lucy, significantly diminish the visibility of topographic features. Image credit: NASA/GODDARD/SWRI/JOHNS HOPKINS APL.

Donald Johansson resides in the inner region of the solar system’s major asteroid belt.

The asteroid was initially discovered on March 2, 1981, by American astronomer Sheltebus at the Siding Spring Observatory.

On April 20, 2025, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft executed a flyby near Donald Johansson, approaching within 960 km (600 miles) of its surface.

This encounter confirmed that the asteroid is an elongated contact binary, a structure that forms when two small celestial bodies collide.

Nonetheless, members of the Lucy team were taken aback by the unusual shape of the narrow neck connecting the two lobes.



A pair of stereo images combining the final full approach image (right) with slightly clipped images taken 72 seconds later. For a three-dimensional view of the asteroid’s structure, cross your eyes while focusing on the image. Image credits: NASA/GODDARD/SWRI/JOHNS HOPKINS APL/BRIAN MAY/CLAUDIA MANZONI.

“The newly released image was captured by the L’Lorri Imager on the spacecraft just minutes before the closest approach,” the researchers stated.

“This successful dress rehearsal assures the team that both the spacecraft and our crew are well-prepared for the main event: an encounter with a Jupiter Trojan asteroid.”

“Currently, the spacecraft is in a relatively quiet cruising phase as it journeys through the main asteroid belt.”

“Lucy is traveling at over 50,000 km/h (30,000 mph) away from the Sun.”

“We will continue to monitor the spacecraft as it heads toward the cooler, dimmer regions of the solar system.”

“Upon reaching the Trojan asteroid, the mission plans to conduct four encounters and observe at least six asteroids (including two satellites discovered by our team) over the course of 15 months.”

“The first encounter is scheduled with the asteroid Euribates in August 2027.”

Source: www.sci.news

Lucy shares breathtaking images from close encounter with asteroid Donald Johansson

The asteroid called Donald Johansson was captured by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft during a flyby on April 20, 2025. On the closest approach, the spacecraft was at a distance of 960 km (600 miles).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyoezs04rhc

Donald Johansson is a carbonaceous asteroid located in the inner region of the main asteroid belt.

It was discovered by American astronomer Shertebas at the Siding Spring Observatory on March 2, 1981.

Donald Johansson had previously observed a large brightness variation over a 10-day period, so some of the expectations of members of the Lucy team were confirmed when the first image showed what appeared to be an elongated contact binary.

However, researchers were surprised by the strange shape of the narrow neck that connects the two leaves.

“The asteroid Donald Johansson has an incredibly complex geology,” says Dr. Hallevison, principal investigator at Lucy, a researcher at the Southwest Research Institute.

“A detailed study of complex structures reveals important information about the building blocks and collision processes that formed planets in the solar system.”

This image of the asteroid Donald Johansson was taken by Lucy Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (l’lorri) by the closest approach from a 1,100 km (660 miles) range. Image credits: NASA/GODDARD/SWRI/JOHNS HOPKINS APL/NOIRLAB.

From a preliminary analysis of the first available images collected by the spacecraft L’Lorri Imager, Donaldjohanson appears to be larger than originally estimated.

“In this first set of high-resolution images returned from the spacecraft, we cannot see a perfect asteroid because the asteroid is larger than the imager’s field of view,” the scientists explained.

“It takes up to a week for the team to downlink the rest of the encounter data from the spacecraft. This dataset provides a more complete image of the overall shape of the asteroid.”

“The NASA Headquarters researcher, Dr. Tom Staller, a scientist with the Lucy Program,” said:

“When Lucy reaches the Trojan asteroid, the chances that she may truly open a new window into the history of our solar system are immeasurable.”

Lucy’s first asteroid flyby target, Dinkinesch and Donald Johansson, are not the main science targets of the mission.

As planned, Dinkinesh Flyby was testing the mission’s system, but the encounter was a full dress rehearsal, with the team conducting a series of close observations to maximize data collection.

Data collected by Lucy’s other scientific instruments, the L’Ralph Color Imager and infrared spectrometers and L’TES thermal infrared spectrometers, will be acquired and analyzed over the next few weeks.

Lucy spacecraft will spend most of the rest of 2025 traveling through the main asteroid belt.

Lucy will encounter the mission’s first major target, the Jupiter Trojan Novel, in August 2027.

Source: www.sci.news

Lucy Takes First Photo of Donald Johansson on Asteroid in Main Belt

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft flies by the small asteroid Donald Johansson on April 20, 2025.

By flashing between images captured by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft on February 20th and 22nd, 2025, this animation shows Donald Johansson’s perceived movement against the background star as the spacecraft rapidly approaches the asteroid. Image credit: NASA/GODDARD/SWRI/JOHNS HOPKINS APL.

Donald Johansson It is a carbonaceous small intestine about 4 km (2.5 miles) in diameter.

First discovered by American astronomer Sheltebas at the Siding Spring Observatory on March 2, 1981, it orbited within the inner region of the main asteroid belt.

NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will pass within 960 km (596 miles) of Donald Johansson on April 20th.

“This second asteroid encounter for Lucy will serve as a rehearsal for Jupiter’s Trojan asteroid outfit, the spacecraft’s main target,” a member of the Lucy team said in a statement.

“The spacecraft had already successfully observed the main belt asteroid Dinkinesh and its moon, Serum and Serum in November 2023.”

These new images have been captured Lucy Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (L’Lorri) Musical instrument.

This diagram shows NASA’s Lucy spacecraft passing through one of the Trojan asteroids near Jupiter. Image credit: Southwest Research Institute.

“But at a distance of 70 million km (45 million miles), Donald Johansson is still dim, but he stands out clearly in this area of ​​relatively faint stars in the constellations of Sextane,” the researchers said.

“The north of the sky is on the right side of the frame, with a 0.11-degree field of vision corresponding to 85,500 miles (140,000 km) of asteroidal distance.”

“Of the two images, another dimly lit asteroid can see the photobomb in the quadrant at the bottom right of the image.”

“However, as the headlights of approaching cars often remain relatively still, Donald Johansson’s obvious movement between these two images is much smaller than that of this intruder, who has fallen out of sight in the second image.”

According to scientists, Donald Johansson was named after anthropologist Donald Johansson, who discovered “Lucy.” Lucy Mission is named after the fossil.

“Lucy will continue to image Donald Johansson as part of his optical navigation program for the next two months. The optical navigation program will use the apparent position of the asteroid against the star’s background to ensure an accurate flyby,” they said.

Source: www.sci.news

Scarlett Johansson raises concerns about AI dangers following viral Kanye West deepfake video

Scarlett Johansson raised concerns about the “immediate threat of AI” following the circulation of deepfake videos featuring her and other well-known Jewish celebrities in response to recent anti-Semitic comments made by Kanye West.

The deepfake video showcased AI-generated versions of numerous celebrities, such as Johansson, David Schwimmer, Jerry Seinfeld, Drake, Adam Sandler, Steven Spielberg, and Mila Kunis.

It began with a deepfake representation of Johansson wearing a t-shirt with raised hands and fingers adorned with the Star of David and Kanye’s name. The video was set to the tune of “Habanagira,” a traditional Jewish song typically played at celebratory cultural events and concluded with a message urging viewers to join the fight against anti-Semitism.

Other celebrities depicted in the video included Sacha Baron Cohen, Jack Black, Natalie Portman, Adam Levine, Ben Stiller, and Lenny Kravitz.

Johansson expressed her distress over the dissemination of AI-generated videos featuring her likeness online in response to anti-Semitic sentiments. In a statement to People, she stated, “As a Jewish woman, I unequivocally denounce all forms of anti-Semitism and hate speech. However, I believe the potential dangers posed by hate speech-enabled AI are far more concerning. We must hold AI accountable, as it presents a significant threat. Regardless of the AI’s message, there is a risk of inciting misuse of AI or real-life repercussions.”

A user known as Nishi made derogatory remarks, self-identifying as a “Nazi,” and lauding Hitler on social media before deactivating their account.

Nishi also featured in advertisements during the Super Bowl and directed viewers to their website, which was subsequently shut down by Shopify for policy violations. Fox TV station CEO Jack Abernethy also criticized the ads in a memo to staff.

Johansson has been an outspoken advocate against the unauthorized use of AI. She previously threatened legal action against OpenAI for using a voice resembling hers in their ChatGPT product. OpenAI eventually removed the prominently featured audio option from ChatGPT following significant backlash.

Johansson emphasized, “While I have been a prominent target of AI misuse, the reality is that the threat of AI affects us all.”

She further stated, “There is a pressing need for progressive nations to enact regulations safeguarding citizens from the imminent perils posed by AI, which regrettably the US government appears inert in addressing. It is alarming that the US lags in taking action.”

The actor urged lawmakers to enact legislation combating AI abuse, highlighting it as “a bipartisan issue with profound implications for humanity’s immediate future.”

These remarks coincide with the UK Advertising Standards Authority’s report stating the prevalence of fake ads featuring celebrities as the most widespread form of fraudulent online ads.

The AI-generated video was created by Ori Bejerano, as indicated in his Instagram Bio. His original post noted that the content was digitally altered or generated with AI to create a realistic appearance.

Source: www.theguardian.com