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In December of last year, researchers from the Oukaimeden Observatory in Morocco discovered the asteroid YE5 2017 which was soon included in the list dangerous objects for the Earth. Now, after a new approach, astronomers have discovered that this is not exactly what it seemed to be – in fact, it's a binary object.
This means that there are two rocks orbiting one around the other, and each of them origin and composition. This type of system is generally considered a single object if the observer does not "get close enough".
He is in the PHA (Potentially Hazardous Asteroids, in Portuguese). It is a list of objects that represent a potential threat to us, terrestrial.
If a celestial body is in this catalog, it means that it has approached the Earth at a distance of at least eight million kilometers. enough not to disintegrate in the atmosphere and is able to cause disaster at least regionally. Yes, that's the case of YE5 2017.
In June of this year, he still approached our planet, at a distance of 6 million kilometers. This gave researchers the opportunity to take a closer look at NASA's Goldstone Solar System (GSSR) solar system in California and the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico.
With a blaster of radio wave beams in the direction of the asteroid, the researchers had more information about its shape and size. Formed by two halves of relatively equal size and mbad, the asteroid is much larger than expected, with 900 meters in diameter for each of its halves.
By counting on YE5 2017, only [astéroïdes binaires] were discovered like this – with each part of similar size and mbad. That's, it's a rather rare find. Another special feature is that its halves are formed by different types of rocks.
According to NASA, this discovery gives scientists an important opportunity to better understand the different types of binary systems. It is expected that it will be possible to study the density of objects forming the YE5 2017, which should improve the understanding of their composition and internal structure, and how they were formed.
Although there are dangerous asteroids for the Earth, NASA seems very cautious to deal with this kind of threat. Last month, the agency was able to catch the route of one of these rocks for hours before impacting the Earth's atmosphere. Of course, it offered no risk and it disintegrated in the atmosphere, but the detection shows that, if necessary, it would be possible to execute the plan to save the Earth from A disastrous impact.
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