SKY IS FALLING

Mystery among asteroid scientists, Hermes, thought to have a partner

Astronomers have apparently discovered an interesting twist to one of the greatest asteroid mysteries of all time. Hermes -- discovered in 1937 by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth and lost to science for 66 years -- could actually be a pair of orbiting asteroids. And a strange pair, indeed.
The latest look at Hermes, also named 1937 UB, comes from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Initial radar observations show a "strongly bifurcated" appearance with two separate components of roughly equal sizes, consistent with an orbiting binary pair.
"We certainly did not expect to find a binary with roughly equal-sized components," Jean-Luc Margot, a University of California, Los Angeles researcher who led the work, said.