Shaun Saunders sends in an article from Universe Today and asks the question... Asteroid or alien probe?!!!
All tongue in cheek aside, asteroid 2009BD is indeed a very strange visitor. The 10 meter-wide asteroid will soon make a slow pass of the Earth, coming within 400,000 miles (644,000 km) of our planet. Before you get all w0rked up, 2009BD poses no threat to Earth now or in the future. It's the asteroids behavior that is proving interesting.
From the article:
All tongue in cheek aside, asteroid 2009BD is indeed a very strange visitor. The 10 meter-wide asteroid will soon make a slow pass of the Earth, coming within 400,000 miles (644,000 km) of our planet. Before you get all w0rked up, 2009BD poses no threat to Earth now or in the future. It's the asteroids behavior that is proving interesting.
From the article:
- Astronomers believe the rock is a rare "co-orbital asteroid" which follows the orbit of the Earth, not receding more than 0.1 AU (15 million km) away.
- From preliminary observations, 2009 BD is projected to shadow our planet for many months (possibly years) to come. Until November 2010 at least, the asteroid will hang around the Earth, within a distance of 0.1 AU.
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