Scientist Spots First Known Quadruple Asteroid System – CNET [CNET]

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Berdeu’s work confirmed the two previously known moons and allowed the fainter third moon to pop out, no longer hidden by the main asteroid’s brightness. Berdeu is lead author of a study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics last week with the triumphant title “First observation of a quadruple asteroid.”

Elektra is located in the solar system’s main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and its unusual nature has attracted some scientific attention. The little moon orbits its parent every 16.3 hours. “The discovery will help astronomers understand how these satellites form and, in turn, provides crucial information about planetary formation and evolution of our own solar system,” the European Southern Observatory said in a statement on Monday.

The Elektra asteroid system might be the first of its kind to be discovered, but there are probably more out there. Berdeu’s data analysis method can be applied to other suspects and could kick off a treasure hunt for other quadruples hiding out in archival telescope data.