It is troubling enough when one realized just how many near-earth objects (NEOs) there are. It's still more troubling when one knows that 2010 AL30 is about to pass within a uncomfortably close distance: 80,000 miles or 1/3 the distance to Earth. It's worse when scientists call it a "mystery object."
That's how scientists, including NASA, have been characterizing 2010 AL30. The object will reach its closest approach to Earth at 7:45 AM EST (1245 GMT) on Wednesday morning.
2010 AL30 has been thought to possibly be man-made because of its orbital period, which is almost exactly one year. After all, there is a lot of junk out that that we have deposited and left.
However, Paul Chodas, a scientist at NASA's Near-Earth Object Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA says that he took a closer look at 2010 AL30 on Monday and in his opinion, it is not man-made, but rather, a small asteroid.
Chodas said the 2010 AL30's trajectory is not the type used to transfer spacecraft out of Earth's orbit. Additionally, there appear to be no other objects that might typically "follow" in the wake of a manmade object. Finally, he said that during the Apollo lunar missions of the late 1960s and 1970s, when many spacecraft were launched into the space near the moon, it was far from Earth.
2010 AL30 is estimated to be about 36 feet (11 meters) wide. According to Spaceweather.com, it will appear as bright as a 14th magnitude star. It will pass through the constellations Orion, Taurus and Pisces as it moves by the Earth.
For those who wonder just how often NEOs pass the Earth, another will bypass us later this week. However, that asteroid, 2010 AG30, will miss us by 650,000 miles, a much more comfortable distance, though a near-miss in astronomical terms.
Written by Michael Santo
HULIQ.com
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