2005 YU55 resembles a collection of rocks hurtling through space
Friday, November 18, 2011 - 10:00
in Astronomy & Space
(PhysOrg.com) -- It is the closest, fastest and smallest object so far seen by Herschel. In fact, such observations were not even foreseen due to technical constraints. The asteroid 2005 YU55 is moving on the sky with a speed exceeding by far Herschel's possibilities to track it. But with the help of a little trick scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and at the European Space Astronomy Center in Spain were able to use Herschel to catch a glimpse of this asteroid shortly after it had crossed the Moon's orbit. As it turned out, 2005 YU55 is somewhat smaller than had been assumed and probably might be a loose assembly of boulders, pebbles and dust.
