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An ‘asteroid’ tracked since 1998 made an unexplained orbital shift—now astronomers say it’s something far more mysterious
https://thedebrief.org/an-asteroid-track...ysterious/
EXCERPTS: Last summer, astronomers were observing the near approach of a space object believed to be an asteroid that had been tracked since its discovery in 1998. However, in a surprising development, the object failed to appear where it was predicted to be after decades of observations.
Now, a team of researchers reports in a new study that this mysterious orbital body is no asteroid at all, but instead may be an elusive class of space objects that scientists are still working to fully understand.
[...] Now, according to Jet Propulsion Lab and CalTech researcher Davide Farnocchia and colleagues, 1998 SH2 was likely steered off course as a result of jets of gas escaping from beneath the object’s surface—a phenomenon known as weak cometary outgassing—meaning that the suspected asteroid is actually probably a type of comet.
However, unlike most comets, this one showed none of the typical characteristics astronomers associate with them, including a glowing tail or coma. This helped to explain the confusion over its initial classification, and additional observations of layered composite imagery did finally reveal these features, albeit faintly.
This confirmation that the object was indeed releasing material meant that 1998 SH2 was a rare variety of space objects known as dark comets, enigmatic bodies whose subtle behavior falls somewhere between comets and asteroids... (MORE - missing details)
https://thedebrief.org/an-asteroid-track...ysterious/
EXCERPTS: Last summer, astronomers were observing the near approach of a space object believed to be an asteroid that had been tracked since its discovery in 1998. However, in a surprising development, the object failed to appear where it was predicted to be after decades of observations.
Now, a team of researchers reports in a new study that this mysterious orbital body is no asteroid at all, but instead may be an elusive class of space objects that scientists are still working to fully understand.
[...] Now, according to Jet Propulsion Lab and CalTech researcher Davide Farnocchia and colleagues, 1998 SH2 was likely steered off course as a result of jets of gas escaping from beneath the object’s surface—a phenomenon known as weak cometary outgassing—meaning that the suspected asteroid is actually probably a type of comet.
However, unlike most comets, this one showed none of the typical characteristics astronomers associate with them, including a glowing tail or coma. This helped to explain the confusion over its initial classification, and additional observations of layered composite imagery did finally reveal these features, albeit faintly.
This confirmation that the object was indeed releasing material meant that 1998 SH2 was a rare variety of space objects known as dark comets, enigmatic bodies whose subtle behavior falls somewhere between comets and asteroids... (MORE - missing details)