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Ida

The asteroid Ida (left) and its diminutive moon, Dactyl (right), imaged by the Galileo spacecraft in 1993.
The asteroid Ida (left) and its diminutive moon, Dactyl (right), imaged by the Galileo spacecraft in 1993. Image: NASA/JPL

Ida is the first asteroid known to have its own moon, a little piece of rock named Dactyl. It’s thought to be a piece of debris from an ancient collision between two larger objects. Ida (and Dactyl, the discovery of which was somewhat fortuitous) are part of the Koronis family of asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter.