📷 Image Credits: Mint
NASA has recently uncovered a fascinating discovery while tracking two asteroids, 2024 MK and 2011 UL21, as they safely passed by Earth. The latter, 2011 UL21, was found to have a tiny moon orbiting around it. The asteroid passed Earth at a distance of 4.1 million miles (6.6 million kilometers), approximately 17 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. Discovered in 2011, in Tucson, Arizona, UL21 was revealed to be part of a binary system with its companion moonlet orbiting at a distance of about 1.9 miles.
The observations were carried out by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California using the Goldstone Solar System Radar, located near Barstow, California. The radar images unveiled not only the spherical shape of the asteroid but also the presence of the smaller moonlet. According to Lance Benner, principal scientist at JPL, the discovery of binary systems like these is crucial as it provides valuable insights into the formation and characteristics of such celestial bodies.
In a further instance, asteroid 2024 MK, discovered just 13 days before, also underwent a relatively rare close approach to Earth. Passing at a mere distance of 184,000 miles (295,000 kilometers) from Earth, which is slightly over three-quarters of the distance between the Moon and Earth, 2024 MK provided researchers with a remarkable opportunity to investigate the physical properties and capture detailed images of a near-Earth asteroid.
The images revealed various features on the asteroid’s surface, including concavities, ridges, and boulders measuring about 30 feet (10 meters) wide. It was noted that the close encounter with Earth’s gravity caused a shift in the asteroid’s orbit, shortening its solar cycle by approximately 24 days. Both 2011 UL21 and 2024 MK were observed using the Deep Space Network and remain of interest for future studies on these near-Earth objects.
The recent observations by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have provided valuable data about the binary system formed by asteroid UL21 and its moonlet companion, shedding light on the intriguing world of asteroid systems and their interactions with Earth’s orbit.
