Early in February, an asteroid at a distance of around 1.1 million miles and at least 1,600 feet in length flew by Earth.
NASA scientists have discovered “one of the most elongated asteroids” ever seen by their planetary radar.
The asteroid sailed by Earth at a safe distance earlier this month, according to the space agency, but what drew their attention was its unusual shape, which they characterized as oblong.
Odd Empire State Building-Sized Asterois Passes Earth
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, US, was closely tracking the asteroid and made “invaluable observations to help determine its size, rotation, surface details, and, most notably, shape,” according to a press release from the space agency.
According to NASA, this close encounter allowed the first opportunity to get a close look at the asteroid, which is the size of the Empire State Building.
The asteroid discovered in 2011 is approximately 1600 feet long and 500 feet wide. The asteroid was studied from January 29 to February 4, 2023, and various other details were given, such as asteroid 2011 AG5 has a big, broad concavity in one of the asteroid’s two hemispheres, as well as faint patches of both darker and lighter hues.
This implies the presence of small, surface-level properties a few dozen meters in diameter.
Read more: Mysterious dark energy caused by black holes, scientists found evidence!
Is The Asteroid Headed To Earth?
To the naked eye, it seems to be the same color as charcoal. Further observations revealed that the 2011 AG5 rotates slowly, with a full revolution every nine hours. The orbit of the asteroid 2011 AG5 around the Sun takes around 621 days, and it will not pass near to Earth until 2040.
It will pass Earth at a safe distance of around 670,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers) at that time, which is nearly three times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. The average distance between Earth and the moon is approximately 239,000 kilometers.
The Deep Space Network’s 230-foot (70-meter) Goldstone Solar System Radar antenna dish near Barstow, California, revealed the dimensions and solar orbit of this elongated asteroid.
Read more: Extended Medicaid coverage for children, postpartum women: Who will be eligible for for aid?