One of the most elongated asteroids ever imaged by planetary radar was closely tracked by NASA’s Deep Space Network. An oblong asteroid, more than three times as long as it is wide, safely flew past Earth on February 3 at a distance of about 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers, or a little
NASA’s Deep Space Network tracked one of the most elongated asteroids ever imaged by planetary radar. This is an artist’s illustration. See the image below for the actual planetary radar observations of asteroid 2011 AG5.’s Deep Space Network.
This close approach provided the first opportunity to take a detailed look at the asteroid since it was discovered in 2011, revealing an object about 1,600 feet long and about 500 feet wide – dimensions comparable to the Empire State Building. The powerful 230-foot Goldstone Solar System Radar antenna dish at the Deep Space Network’s facility near Barstow, California, revealed the dimensions of this extremely elongated asteroid.
The Goldstone radar observations took place from January 29 to February 4, capturing several other details: Along with a large, broad concavity in one of the asteroid’s two hemispheres, 2011 AG5 has subtle dark and lighter regions that may indicate small-scale surface features a few dozen meters across. And if the asteroid were viewed by the human eye, it would appear as dark as charcoal. The observations also confirmed 2011 AG5 has a slow rotation rate, taking nine hours to fully rotate.
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