{"id":156653,"date":"2026-11-10T10:00:54","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T15:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=156653"},"modified":"2026-11-10T09:37:46","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T14:37:46","slug":"ucf-graduate-students-class-project-helps-reveal-unusual-shape-of-large-asteroid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-graduate-students-class-project-helps-reveal-unusual-shape-of-large-asteroid\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Graduate Students\u2019 Class Project Helps Reveal Unusual Shape of Large Asteroid"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A class project led graduate students Daejhanae Smith and Rhiannon Hicks to contribute data to \u201cUnmasking (44) Nysa: Evidence for a Trilobate Structure,\u201d a study published in the Journal of Astronomy & Astrophysics<\/em> examining one of the solar system\u2019s more unusual asteroids.<\/p>\n

For their Advanced<\/em> Observational Astronomy<\/em> course, Smith and Hicks designed and carried out their own project to study 44 Nysa, a large, bright asteroid located in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. By observing 44 Nysa for around eight hours, they collected more than 800 images and produced a light curve, a measurement of an object\u2019s brightness as it rotates.<\/p>\n

Their observations showed the same distinctive pattern seen in previous studies, with two unequal maximums and minimums in 44 Nysa\u2019s brightness. Researchers later combined their data with high-resolution observations to develop a three-dimensional shape model, a digital blueprint, that revealed evidence that 44 Nysa may have a rare, trilobate shape, or three distinct lobes.<\/p>\n

From a Class Assignment to a Research Project<\/h2>\n