The 2018 CN41 asteroid marked at the beginning of the year turned out to be the remains of Tesla Roadster fired into space by Elon Musk. In terms of observational, the object resembled a tiny celestial body. Scientists note that as the amount of cosmic garbage increases, such situations can happen more and more often.
At the beginning of January, scientists from the Minor Planet Center (MPC) with the International Astronomical Union registered the new Asteroid 2018 CN41. The facility first appeared in the observation data in 2018, but only recently was analyzed by an amateur astronomer cooperating with MPC. The alleged celestial body did not encircle the earth, which seemed to confirm its natural origin, and in the database it did not have a meaning that it could be artificial.
Cosmic puzzle
2018 CN41 soon enjoyed the status of a new asteroid. After seeing the three -dimensional trajectory of the object on the MPC website, the explorer began to have doubts about its origin – the orbit resembled one of the commonly used roads from Earth to Mars. When he asked other astronomers for help in solving the puzzle, it quickly turned out that 2018 CN41 was not a cosmic rock, but … a fragment of the Falcon Heavy rocket with Tesla Roadster car attached to it.
– I was a bit embarrassed that I could cause unnecessary noise, but I quickly went to the MPC help department and informed that the object I had just reported was part of the rocket – said the explorer in an interview with the portal astronomy.com.
As the astronomer Peter Veres from MPC explained, there are more and more artificial objects in the extraterrestrial space and it happens that they accidentally go to the catalog of potential asteroids. Although astronomers have software that can identify most of such bodies, sometimes there are errors.
– this emphasizes the need to improve communication and transparency between space agencies, private companies and states – he said. – Space movement based on cooperation would help us distinguish artificial objects from natural, which would be beneficial for science and safety around the earth.
Tesla in space
Red Tesla Roadster, previously belonging to Elon Muska, was fired during the first Falcon Heavy rocket test in 2018. The car attached to the upper degree of the rocket entered the orbit around the ground for six hours, and then moved to the circulated orbit. A mannequin named Starman, traveling in space in the accompaniment of the iconic “Space Odditi” by David Bowie, sat behind the wheel of the vehicle.
Karol Wójcicki says Falcon's test heavyThis is the latest SpaceX space rocket today, it can be the most powerful starting vehicle in the world. The long -awaited Falcon Heavy rocket test will start in Florida. An unusual ballast – a Tesla Roadster vehicle was placed on board.tvn24
42 The largest planeetoids visible on their orbits in the main planetoid belt between Mars and Jupiter's orbitsESO/M. Kornmesser/Vernazzza et al./mistral algorithm (onra/cnrs)
Smithsonian Magazine, Astronomy.com
Source of the main photo: stock.adobe.com