MYSTERIOUS MASS IN SPACE : AIR FORCE FINDS ASTEROIDLIKE ROCK IN BAFFLING ORBIT.Byline: John Antczak Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. A strange object which moves like a comet but looks like an asteroid was spotted in space by an Air Force telescope using a special camera developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory “JPL” redirects here. For other uses, see JPL (disambiguation). Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a NASA research center located in the cities of Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge, near Los Angeles, California, USA. . The object, with a diameter of 5 to 10 miles, may be an unusual asteroid or a dead comet stripped of all volatile material, said Steve Pravdo, project task manager for the Near-Earth Asteroid Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) are asteroids whose orbits are close to Earth's orbit. Some NEAs' orbits intersect Earth's so they pose a collision danger. On the other hand, NEAs are most easily accessible for spacecraft from Earth; in fact, some can be reached with much less fuel Tracking program at JPL (language) JPL - JAM Programming Language. . Nothing like it has been seen before, Pravdo said earlier this week. ``This is a misfit mis·fit n. 1. Something of the wrong size or shape for its purpose. 2. One who is unable to adjust to one's environment or circumstances or is considered to be disturbingly different from others. in the grand scheme of things,'' said Eleanor Helin, a JPL planetary astronomer and the NEAT principal investigator, in a statement. The object, dubbed 1996 PW, was spotted in data from an Aug. 9 observation by the NEAT system attached to an Air Force telescope atop Mount Haleakala on Maui, Hawaii. The computerized system is designed to automatically survey the skies for objects - asteroids This is a list of numbered minor planets, nearly all of them asteroids, in sequential order. As of late September 2007 there are 164,612 numbered minor planets, and many more not yet numbered. Most asteroids are ordinary and not particularly noteworthy. and comets - which could pose a hazard to Earth if their orbits intersect. The unusual motion was spotted by scientist Gareth Williams while processing the computer data at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) is a "research institute" of the Smithsonian Institution headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where it is joined with the Harvard College Observatory (HCO) to form the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). in Cambridge, Mass. The object's orbit is estimated to have a period of 5,000 years, an elongated e·lon·gate tr. & intr.v. e·lon·gat·ed, e·lon·gat·ing, e·lon·gates To make or grow longer. adj. or elongated 1. Made longer; extended. 2. Having more length than width; slender. , cometlike circuit that stretches into the void beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto. The orbits of the majority of asteroids are on the order of three to five years, and in an extreme case, 50 years, Pravdo said. Most asteroids also orbit in the plane of the planets; 1996 PW has a very high inclination, about 30 degrees. Asteroids are rocky bodies that mainly orbit in the area between Jupiter and Mars - the asteroid belt. Comets generally have orbits that go beyond the planets and have volatile material streaming off. No gas emissions were observed from 1996 PW, even during its closest approach to the sun, according to Helin. If 1996 PW is an asteroid, it is by far the most eccentric, Pravdo said. ``In my opinion, I like the extinct comet explanation,'' he said. ``In some ways it may be a link between the two classes of objects,'' he added. The object was in the constellation Aquarius when it was first observed, and it remains visible to the NEAT system and other astronomers, Pravdo said. Scientists using the 5-meter telescope at Palomar Mountain in San Diego County will be making observations to determine the object's physical measurements and composition. The NEAT system was installed on Maui in December. It essentially uses time exposures to spot the movement of near-Earth objects among the thousands of celestial objects such as stars and galaxies in every image. Moviegoers sensitized sensitized /sen·si·tized/ (sen´si-tizd) rendered sensitive. sensitized rendered sensitive. sensitized cells see sensitization (2). by this summer's alien invasion fantasies need not worry about 1996 PW's movements. It's in a ``dumb orbit,'' guided only by the laws of physics. In any event, Pravdo added, ``It's on its way out.'' |
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