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Jim Sharkey
July 16, 2018
The artist concept of what the 2017 YE5 binary asteroid might look like. Both objects had striking differences in radar reflectivity, which could indicate that they have different surface properties. Photo Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
The observations of three of the world's largest radio telescopes revealed that a near-Earth asteroid discovered in 2017 is actually two objects, each of which About 900 meters in size, orbit each other. The two bodies are almost equal in mass and do not touch each other.
The Near-Earth Asteroid 2017 YE5 was discovered on December 21, 2017 by Morocco Oukaimeden Sky Survey ( MOSS ), but no detail. were known about the physical characteristics of the asteroid until last month. 2017 YE5 is only the fourth binary asteroid close to the Earth "equal mass" ever discovered. The most recent observations provide the most detailed pictures of this type of binary asteroid ever obtained.
On June 21, the asteroid made its closest approach to Earth for at least the next 170 years, reaching 3.7 million miles (6 million kilometers) from the Earth, about 16 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar ( GSSR ) in California made observations on June 21 and 22 that provided early indications that the 2017 YE5 asteroid could be a binary system. The observations showed two distinct lobes, but astronomers could not determine whether the two bodies were connected or separated.
On June 24, astronomers from the Observatory of Arecibo in Puerto Rico collaborated with their colleagues at the Green Bank. Observatory ( GBO ) at West Virgina to use their observatories in a bi-static radar configuration (Arecibo transmitted the radar signal and Green Bank received the return signal). Working together, they were able to confirm that 2017 YE5 consists of two separate organizations. Goldstone and Arecibo both independently confirmed the binary nature of the asteroid at 26 June.
New observations show that both bodies rotate around each other every 20 to 24 hours. The radar images show that both objects are larger than their optical brightness suggests, which indicates that they do not reflect as much sunlight as a typical rocky asteroid. The images taken by Goldstone on June 21 show a striking difference in the radar reflectivity between the two objects, suggesting that they may have different densities, near-surface compositions or different surface asperities.
The discovery of the binary nature of YE5 Significant opportunity to improve the understanding of different types of binary asteroids and study the mechanisms of formation of binaries and contact binaries. The combined radar and optical observations of YE5 could allow researchers to estimate the densities of both objects, which would allow researchers to better understand their composition, their internal structure and how they formed.
Video published with the kind permission of NASA / JPL-Caltech
Jim Sharkey
Jim Sharkey is a lab assistant, writer, and general science enthusiast who grew up in Enid, Oklahoma, the hometown of Skylab and Shuttle Astronaut Owen K. Garriott. As a young fan of Star Trek, he participated in the letter writing campaign that gave the name of Enterprise to the prototype of the space shuttle.
While his academic studies ranged from psychology and archeology to biology, he never lost his passion for space exploration. Jim started blogging on science, science fiction and futurism in 2004.
Jim resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and has participated in NASA Socials for the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity Rover Landing and the launch of NASA's LADEE Lunar Orbiter.
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