An oblong-shaped asteroid that is as long as the Empire State Building is tall passed by Earth at the beginning of February. The space rock, dubbed 2011 AG5, flew within 1.1 million miles of our planet — the equivalent of just under five times the distance from the Earth to the Moon. While NASA said that there was no risk of 2011 AG5 colliding with us, the close passage afforded the first opportunity to undertake a detailed study of the asteroid since it was first spotted back in early 2011.
Astronomers used the powerful 230-foot Goldstone Solar System Radar antenna dish at the Deep Space Network’s facility in California to reveal the dimensions of 2011 AG5.
Measurements taken between January 29 and February 4 revealed that the asteroid is around 1,600 feet long but only 500 feet wide.
Planetary scientist Dr Lance Benner of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California led the recent observations of 2011 AG5.
He said: “Of the 1,040 near-Earth objects observed by planetary radar to date, this is one of the most elongated we’ve seen.”
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The Goldstone radar observations were able to reveal several other details about 2011 AG5 — starting with the presence of a large, broad, “dimple” in one of its two hemispheres.
In addition, astronomers noted that the asteroid — while generally charcoal in colour — also has subtle darker and lighter regions that may indicate the presence of small-scale topographic features on its surface, each a few dozen metres across.
Researchers also determined that 2011 AG5 has a relatively slow spin rate, taking around nine hours to complete one rotation.
The radar observations have also helped refine our understanding of the orbit that the asteroid follows as it journeys around the Sun.
This data is invaluable for scientists at NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), who work to calculate the orbits of all known near-Earth asteroids and assess potential impactors.
The experts have determined that 2011 AG5 orbits around the Sun once every 621 days — meaning that its next close passage by Earth will not occur until the year 2040.
At this time, it will miss us safely with a clearance of around 670,000 miles, which is the equivalent of nearly three times the Earth–Moon distance.
CNEOS director Paul Chodas added: “Interestingly, shortly after its discovery, 2011 AG5 became a poster-child asteroid when our analysis showed it had a small chance of a future impact.
“Continued observations of this object ruled out any chance of impact, and these new ranging measurements by the planetary radar team will further refine exactly where it will be far into the future.”
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2011 AG5 isn’t the only asteroid to draw attention this month — with last week seeing a small asteroid explode over the English channel, near Normandy.
The light show from the shooting star’s “airburst” was visible across most of southern England and Wales — and even as far south as Paris, France.
The incident was rare, experts said, in that the asteroid disintegrated in sight of populated areas with advance warning, allowing significant data collection.
Designated “Sar2667” and then “2023 CX₁” by astronomers, the rock s estimated to have been around 3.3 feet in size — just above the lower limit for classification as an asteroid.
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