21 feb. 2023 – 19:00 hrs.
On February 3, NASA was able to observe and photograph an unusual asteroid approaching planet Earth. It is about the space rock called 2011 AG5 and that was captured by the instruments associated with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, for its acronym in English) of the US agency.
Although its proximity did not mean greater danger, this is a huge rock, with dimensions similar to the Empire State building in New York or equivalent to the length of 4 football fields, which was located about 1.8 million kilometers from Earth .
It was thanks to this short distance that scientists had the unique opportunity to observe, for the first time and very closely, the asteroid discovered in 2011.
Why is it so unusual?
The shape of this asteroid is one of the strangest observed by astronomers.
Although its length is comparable to that of 4 soccer fields, its width is more similar to the shape of a building, or some have compared it to the shape of a churro or a shelled peanut.
An asteroid roughly the size of the Empire State Building! Scientists recently tracked one of the most elongated objects ever imaged by planetary radar and revealed its unique dimensions: 1,600 ft (500 meters) long and about 500 ft (150 meters) wide. https://t.co/DqhBSNTtzi pic.twitter.com/9x9gM7Qgpq
— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) February 17, 2023
“Of the 1,040 near-Earth objects observed by planetary radar to date, this is one of the most elongated we’ve seen,” he said in a statement. announcement, Lance Bennera senior scientist at JPL who participated in the observations.
In addition, the proximity to the rock allowed us to know details, such as that it has two hemispheres, one more concave than the other, and that if the human eye could observe it, it would see it totally black.
Very elongated shape (no need to tell me what it reminds you of) for this asteroid passed 1.8 million kilometers from Earth in early February. 2011 AG5 is 500m long and less than 150m wide! pic.twitter.com/3aYfl0L05s
— E. Bottlaender (@Bottlaeric) February 19, 2023
It is dangerous?
According to the director of the Center for the Study of Near-Earth Objects (CNEOS), Paul ChodasInitially, the analyzes showed a small possibility of future impact.
“Continued observations of this object have ruled out any possibility of an impact, and these new measurements by the planetary radar team will refine where it will be in the future,” Chodas said.
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