An asteroid close to Earth was really two objects in orbit

An asteroid that approached Earth last month is actually two objects in orbit, revealing new The new observations obtained between June 21 and June 26 indicate that the two objects, each of about 900 meters, turn around each other every 20 to 24 hours, said the NASA. in a statement Thursday

The near-Earth asteroid, 2017 YE5, was spotted for the first time with observations provided by the Morocco Oukaimeden Sky Survey on December 21, 2017, but no details on the physical properties of the asteroid was known until June 21, the 2017 asteroid YE5 made its closest approach to the Earth for at least the next 170 years, reaching six million kilometers from the Earth, about 16 times the distance between Earth and Earth. the Moon

On June 21 and 22, NASA California's Goldstone Solar System Radar (GSSR) observations showed early signs that 2017 YE5 could be a binary system.

The observations revealed two distinct lobes, but the orientation of the asteroid was such that scientists could not see if the two bodies were separated or joined.

Finally, both objects turned to expose a separate gap between them.

Scientists at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico had already planned to observe 2017 YE5, and they were alerted by their colleagues at Goldstone to the unique properties of the asteroid.

On June 24, scientists teamed up with researchers from the Green Bank Observatory (GBO) in West Virginia. , US, and used the two observatories together in a bi-static radar configuration (in which Arecibo transmits the radar signal and Green Bank receives the return signal.)

Together, they were able to confirm that 2017 YE5 is composed two separate objects. On June 26, Goldstone and Arecibo both independently confirmed the binary nature of the asteroid, says NASA