Nope, our Temporary Moon Isn't Space Junk, it's an Asteroid

By Matthew Williams October 19, 2017
Nope, our Temporary Moon Isn't Space Junk, it's an Asteroid

"While HO3 is close to the Earth, its small size - possibly not larger than 100 feet - makes it challenging target to study. Our observations show that HO3 rotates once every 28 minutes and is made of materials similar to asteroids."

"Of the near-Earth objects we know of, these types of objects would be the easiest to reach, so they could potentially make suitable targets for exploration. With its binocular arrangement of two 8.4-meter mirrors, coupled with a very efficient pair of imagers and spectrographs like MODS, LBT is ideally suited to the characterization of these Earth's companions."

Matthew Williams

Matthew Williams

Matt Williams is a space journalist, science communicator, and author with several published titles and studies. His work is featured in The Ross 248 Project and Interstellar Travel edited by NASA alumni Les Johnson and Ken Roy. He also hosts the podcast series Stories from Space at ITSP Magazine. He lives in beautiful British Columbia with his wife and family. For more information, check out his website.