Strange Asteroid 2009 BD Stalks the Earth

by Ian O'Neill on January 25, 2009

2009 BD is approximately 400,000 miles from Earth (NASA)

The stalker watches us from afar. 2009 BD is approximately 400,000 miles from Earth (NASA)

A 10 meter-wide asteroid named 2009 BD discovered earlier this month is making a slow pass of the Earth, coming within 400,000 miles (644,000 km) of our planet. The near-Earth asteroid (NEO) poses no threat to us, but it is an oddity worth studying. Astronomers believe the rock is a rare “co-orbital asteroid” which follows the orbit of the Earth, not receding more than 0.1 AU (15 million km) away. It is stalking us.

On looking at the NASA JPL Small-Body Database orbital plot, it is hard to distinguish between the orbital path of the Earth and 2009 BD, showing just how close the asteroid is shadowing the Earth on its journey around the Sun…

In 2006, NASA announced that Earth’s “second moon” was an asteroid called 2003 YN107 (with a diameter of about 20 meters) and it was about to leave the vicinity of Earth, leaving its “corkscrewing” orbit around our planet for seven years, only to return again in 60 years time. 2003 YN107 was of no threat (and wont be in the future), but it is interesting to study these bodies to understand how they interact with Earth. Having NEOs in stable orbits around the Earth could be of benefit to mankind in the future as missions can be planned, possibly sending mining missions to these rocky visitors so we can tap their resources.

The orbital path of 2009 BD (blue line) (JPL Small Body Database)

The orbital path of 2009 BD (blue line) (JPL Small Body Database)

So far, little is known about the new 10 meter asteroid in our near-Earth neighbourhood, but it provides us with an exciting opportunity to track its laborious orbit to see whether it will eventually be ejected after making a close pass to the Earth’s gravitational field (as was the case with 2003 YN107 in 2006). From preliminary observations, 2009 BD is projected to shadow our planet for many months (possibly years) to come. Until November 2010 at least, the asteroid will hang around the Earth, within a distance of 0.1 AU.

It is worth emphasising that 2009 BD is of no threat to the Earth, its closest approach takes it 644,000 km from us. For comparison, the Moon’s apogee is 400,000 km, so 2009 BD is stalking us from afar, beyond lunar orbit.

As time goes on, astronomers will be able to track 2009 BD’s orbit with more precision (for updates, keep an eye on the JPL Small-Body Database), but for now, we have a micro-second moon following the Earth on its orbit around the Sun…

Source: Space Weather

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  • Norm

    “Having NEOs in stable orbits around the Earth could be of benefit to mankind in the future as missions can be planned, possibly sending mining missions to these rocky visitors so we can tap their resources.”

    Well unless they are a heck of a lot bigger than 10 meters I don’t see any value in mining them for resources. Come on, it’s 30 feet in diameter at a few tens of million dollars for a space mission it better be made of solid gold.

  • Max

    “at a few tens of million dollars for a space mission it better be made of solid gold.”

    Not necessarily.
    If the presumption is we’re going to bring this material back to earth to work on it then yes, even a solid gold asteroid does not currently pay back for the mission.

    …But lets say we aren’t bringing it home here.

    The high cost of space missions comes from taking things into space. If we can use the materials we find and direct them to other space based projects, the costs of doing business is drastically reduced.
    So I wouldn’t ask how much such an asteroid is worth on earth, but how much it may be worth to another astronaut.

    In such a scenario a rock with a few tons of water ice in it could be worth billions.

  • EO

    So the Earth has not cleared its orbit of other bodies (even Jupiter has not), so what does this mean for the IAU’s new definition of ‘planet’?

  • EO

    Oops, I hadn’t noticed the other pages of comments where people have beat me to the punch. Glad I’m not the only one with these thoughts.

  • Norm

    Max “So I wouldn’t ask how much such an asteroid is worth on earth, but how much it may be worth to another astronaut.

    In such a scenario a rock with a few tons of water ice in it could be worth billions.”
    —————
    Really now it’s thirty feet across. Tons of water from a tiny asteroid? BTW, putting mining equipment, refining capabilities, miners, etc in space is by no means cheap comparatively.

    It’s value to an astronaut is in any scientific discoveries it may hold about the dynamics of our solar system, it has no mining value at all. I’ll say again, it’s THIRTY FEET across.

  • cipater

    RE: “clearing its orbit”

    clearing your orbit means that anything that’s stably orbiting inside your orbit must be gravitationally bound to you. this means: it’s orbiting you, or it’s in one of your lagrange points, or its orbital period makes a nice, clean ratio with yours.

    jupiter has cleared its orbit because the moons and rings are in orbit, the trojans are at lagrange points, etc etc. things may fall into a temporary, unstable orbit with jupiter, and will eventually be ejected or fall in, at which point they would be “cleared.”

    on the other hand, pluto and ceres are swarmed with non-resonating objects (all sorts of countless kuiper belt objects and asteroid belt objects, respectively)

    it looks like we don’t know much about this new guy that’s stalking us, but i’m sure that it’s either a transient (it’s only temporarily and unstably associated with us, and a close encounter with us or the moon will eject it–”clear” it), or its orbit around the sun makes a nice clean ratio with our orbit (it would have to be a very complex and improbable orbit).

  • Max

    @Norm
    You could be talking anything up to 800 tons of water from a relatively small 20 meter object… Of course its highly unlikely to be solid ice.

    Still, unless I’ve got the number wrong, we’re looking at about a dozen Ares V launches to do what a robotic mission might accomplish in one or two. Simply by moving materials already in orbit into reach of astronauts.
    That means allot more payload room for scientific equipment and more range given to the mission.

  • shannon

    can anyone spell NIBIRU

  • http://softkillerz.com alex

    Oops, I hadn’t noticed the other pages of comments where people have beat me to the punch. Glad I’m not the only one with these thoughts..

  • jonathan wissner

    We need to study these asteroids. We should go up there with a long tether which will be attached to the asteroid by spikes on the tether. The now tethered asteroid is attached to the spacecraft fueled by negative ion propulsion, which is fueled by solar power. Why does it take a lonely software developer to envision this unique idea? Hire me and find out!
    jdm0703 @ gmail.com

  • Roger Levinson

    Weeeel. This thirty foot diameter object if made of gold may not be worth the cost of retrieval now, but the way the gold price is rising it could be worthwhile in six months time!!! HA.

  • Paul Eaton-Jones

    Why the tizzy over the correct spelling of something that doesn’t exist?

  • http://oureconomy.org the economy

    I wish we had the technology to land on this baby and do some research. Maybe in another 100 years what we see on tv will be a reality.

    Then again its not like NASA’s budget is growing they might not be around then.

  • Jaska Jaca Jaskica

    This proves the Power of God Almighty and His endless mercy. Everything that happens has got its reasons…

  • italian idol

    omg! its the nd of the world! and theyre all lying to us!!!

  • italian idol

    i mean, its the end of the world!!!

  • Anonymous

    That’s no moon. It’s a space station.

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