NASA is focused on letting us know that space is filled with action and adventure. Apparently, on July 24th this year, a “peanut” asteroid casually passed by our planet giving scientists a reason for excitement.
The “peanut” asteroid even has a name: 1996 JD6 and is described as a “binary contact”. This means that the asteroid is actually composed of two “lobes” that stick to each other.
The 1996 JD6 passed Earth at about 4.5 million miles away and NASA made use of a procedure called “bistatic observation” in order to obtain some photos of this fascinating celestial body. They used the Deep Space Network antenna in California as to send a radar signal to the asteroid while the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia received the reflections giving NASA a good view of the space-roaming peanut.
Researchers have concluded that approximately 15 percent of asteroids that are coming close to Earth are adopting a peanut shape. The amount of data gathered by July 25th is said to amount 7 hours and 40 minutes and it has been concluded that the asteroid has a length of about 1 and a half miles on its long axis.
For the time being, scientists will continue the asteroid since they are interested in why it adopted this shape and the amount of rotations it has. It was initially discovered in 1999 at the Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona and specialists have been keeping an eye out for him in case of any asteroid incidents.
An asteroid incident is nothing to be trifled with. Such an event can put the population of an entire area, or even worldwide, in serious danger. This is the main reason why astronomers maintain a vigilant eye: so in case anything like this occurs, we will be informed in time and we will be prepared to deal with it appropriately.
While the next asteroid encounter is not expected until 2054, NASA has shown us, and continues to do so, that outer space is filled of events which are not visible to us. It seems that we are making some sort of astrological discovery every week now. So today we can talk about an asteroid which passed by Earth. Who knows what space will have to offer us tomorrow?
Photo Credits nasa.gov