Unidentified space object nicknamed WTF to strike Earth
By Richard Tribou
No one knows exactly what's hurtling toward Earth, but it's man-made, arriving in mid-November and headed for the Indian Ocean.
According to the Journal Nature, a 1- to 2-meter-long piece of space junk that is possibly debris from the moon missions and categorized as WT1190F was spotted in early October and is slated for an impact with Earth on Nov. 13.
At that size, it's possible it will burn up entirely in Earth's atmosphere, but if it doesn't the remainder will plunge into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sri Lanka.
The object has a giant orbiting of the Earth, going out twice as far as the moon and back. It was first detected by the Catalina Sky Survey out of the University of Arizona's College of Science, according to Nature.
Previous sightings from archived telescope captures were viewed and its path was then determined, which allows scientists to track it to its re-entry into Earth's atmosphere at 6:20 UTC, which will be around noon in Sri Lanka, and 1:20 a.m. EDT.
Measurements of its orbit coupled with the effects of solar radiation have allowed scientists to determine the object's density, which happens to be lighter than water, and definitely not a rocky object like an asteroid. That has led them to believe it is man-made, such as a discarded stage from a lunar launch from the 1970s, for instance.
The European Space Agency's NEO Coordination Centre will be tracking the object until it comes home to Earth.
"The goal is twofold," according to a press release on the ESA site. "First, the object is interesting to better understand the re-entry of satellites and debris from high orbits. Second, it provides us with an ideal opportunity to test our readiness for any possible future events involving an asteroid, since the components of this scenario, from discovery to impact, are all very similar."