Erin Morton at the NASA blog recently published an article detailing a newly discovered satellite, stating that “the International Astronomical Union approved the name “Selam” or ሰላም, which means “peace” in the Ethiopian language Amharic, for Dinkinesh’s moon.” This contact satellite shares a naming convention honoring discoveries in the field of paleoanthropology, including the mission itself, Lucy, and the asteroid Donaldjohanson.

Dinkinesh and Selam, courtesy of NASA

Watch a video and read more about this stellar find here:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/lucy/2023/11/29/satellite-discovered-by-nasas-lucy-mission-gets-name/

[Photo pulled from https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasas-lucy-spacecraft-discovers-2nd-asteroid-during-dinkinesh-flyby/ “This image shows the “moonrise” of the satellite as it emerges from behind asteroid Dinkinesh as seen by the Lucy Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (L’LORRI), one of the most detailed images returned by NASA’s Lucy spacecraft during its flyby of the asteroid binary. This image was taken at 12:55 p.m. EDT (1655 UTC) Nov. 1, 2023, within a minute of closest approach, from a range of approximately 270 miles (430 km). From this perspective, the satellite is behind the primary asteroid. The image has been sharpened and processed to enhance contrast. NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab”]