Astronomers have the
first direct evidence that a newly discovered object orbiting Earth is debris
from one of the Apollo moon launches over 30 years ago.
RIGHT: The background
stars remain fixed, while the object moves...
Computers now
employ pattern recognition, and easily findd
these types of
anomolies... previously, scientists would flip
between a series
of plates, and manually look for somethingg
changing its
positions. CLICK the PIC to view, if this one isn't
moving...
Carl Hergenrother and
Robert Whiteley, astronomers at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the
University of Arizona, measured reflected light from the object Sept. 12 and
13 and say it does not look like an asteroid. In fact, it has the colors of a
rocket booster, just as had been suspected.
The researchers used the
Steward Observatory 61-inch telescope near Mount Bigelow in the Santa Catalina
Mountains north of Tucson for observations of J002E3..
The mysterious object was
discovered in orbit around Earth on Sept. 3 by amateur astronomer Bill Yeung.
It orbits Earth about twice as far away as the Moon.
The discovery made news
headlines as it could be the only satellite, other than the moon, naturally
captured by Earth to enter Earth orbit. After studying the object's past
motion, Paul Chodas of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena,
Calif., concluded that the object had been orbiting the sun until April of
this year, when it was captured by Earth.
Researchers have believed
that J002E3's small size and unusual orbit suggest the object is no asteroid
or other natural object, but a piece of man-made "space junk," possibly a
piece of one of the Saturn V rockets that launched American astronauts to the
moon during the Apollo program.
Hergenrother and Whiteley
made photometric measurements showing that the object spins once every minute
or two seconds -- more observations are needed to pin down the exact time.
"Such a rapid rate of rotation is not unheard of either for an asteroid or a
piece of man-made space junk, but is very consistent with each," Hergenrother
said in a statement.
The University of Arizona
astronomers made their definitive observations with various filters to sample
the colors, or spectra, that J002E3 reflects.
"Rather than looking like
a known asteroid, the colors were consistent with the spectral properties of
an object covered with white Titanium oxide (TiO) paint," Hergenrother said.
"The Apollo Saturn S-IVB upper stages were painted with TiO paint."
Hergenrother and Whiteley
checked their observations with some professional colleagues, " a kind of
informal 'peer review' just in case we were way off on things," Hergenrother
said. Those key colleagues include Richard Binzel and Andy Rivken of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Binzel and Rivken took infrared spectra
on the unique object, and those spectra "confirm that J002E3 is a dead ringer
for white TiO paint," Hergenrother added.
The object is most likely
a S-IVB from either Apollo 8, 10, 11, or 12, with Apollo 12 being most likely,
the researchers conclude. "As Bill Yeung said, this is the first recorded
observation of any object being captured into a geocentric orbit,"
Hergenrother said.
