According to Live Science, the anomalous asteroid, named 2011 AG5, was first discovered in January 2011 by the Mount Lemmon Survey using a telescope located in Arizona – USA. The asteroid caused fear at the time because scientists predicted that its 621-day orbit around the Sun would lead to a devastating collision with Earth in 2040.
Follow-up observations in 2012 suggested that these calculations were wrong and that it would not be dangerous. However, the object is still classified as “potentially hazardous”.
Anomalous object 2011 AG5 in the latest photos – Photo: NASA
On February 3, 2022, the asteroid once more came close to Earth at a distance of 1.8 million km, a distance close for astronomical but far enough for safety.
It was also an opportunity for the scientists to scan it once more and… be shocked once more.
Using the powerful Goldstone Solar System Radar at NASA’s Deep Space Network facility located in Southern California – USA, researchers photographed the asteroid and found it to be 500 meters long but only 150 meters wide. .
This is a strange shape because according to scientist Lance Benner from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), of the 1,040 near-Earth objects observed by planetary radar, this is the longest. The others are much more round.
The researchers might not come up with an explanation for this strange shape. They also calculated that the object took regarding 9 hours to complete one rotation and were completely confused as to why it rotated slower than that.
The image also shows patches of light and dark intermingled on the asteroid’s surface, something… also mysterious.
But these first-observed anomalies offer hope for a better understanding of the object, through in-depth analysis, including more accurate prediction of its potential for danger.
“These new range measurements by the planetary radar group will further refine its precise position in the future,” said NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) director at JPL. .
The good news is that new calculations confirm it will at least not collide in 2040, despite coming close to just over half the distance of the last close and will certainly continue to need monitoring in the future.