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| The object is only 1 to 2 meters in size, and its trajectory shows that it has a low density, and is perhaps hollow. That suggests an artificial object. Credit: Johannes Gerhardus Swanepoel ©iStock.com |
As I said in the post "Space Faring Species":
"Space Junk: Not a sexy topic, but we've been chucking things to the Clarke Orbit since Sputnik. There's a lot of debris floating above us, and with the right training, the opportunity to employ people and possibly recycle the metals and materials used to build probes that outlive their usefulness and technology." Now's a good time to start thinking about the subject.
Researchers call it sheer coincidence that a newly discovered piece of space junk is officially designated WT1190F. But the letters in the name, which form the acronym for an unprintable expression of bafflement, are an appropriate fit for an object that is as mysterious as it is unprecedented.
Scientists have worked out that WT1190F will plunge to Earth from above the Indian Ocean on November 13, making it one of the very few space objects whose impact can be accurately predicted. More unusual still, WT1190F was a 'lost' piece of space debris orbiting far beyond the Moon, ignored and unidentified, before being glimpsed by a telescope in early October.
Scientific American:
Mysterious Space Junk Will Plunge to Earth in November
Traci Watson and Nature Magazine
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