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2020 SO is a
near-Earth object A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body orbiting the Sun whose closest approach to the Sun ( perihelion) is less than 1.3 times the Earth–Sun distance (astronomical unit, AU). This definition applies to the object's orbit a ...
identified to be the
Centaur A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...
upper stage used on 20 September 1966 to launch the Surveyor 2 spacecraft. The object was discovered by the
Pan-STARRS 1 The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS1; obs. code: F51 and Pan-STARRS2 obs. code: F52) located at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, US, consists of astronomical cameras, telescopes and a computing facility that i ...
survey at the Haleakala Observatory on 17 September 2020. It was initially suspected to be an
artificial Artificiality (the state of being artificial, anthropogenic, or man-made) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity. Connotati ...
object due to its low velocity relative to Earth and later on the noticeable effects of
solar radiation pressure Radiation pressure (also known as light pressure) is mechanical pressure exerted upon a surface due to the exchange of momentum between the object and the electromagnetic field. This includes the momentum of light or electromagnetic radiation of ...
on its orbit.
Spectroscopic Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectrosc ...
observations by NASA's
Infrared Telescope Facility The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (NASA IRTF) is a telescope optimized for use in infrared astronomy and located at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii. It was first built to support the Voyager missions and is now the US national facilit ...
in December 2020 found that the object's spectrum is similar to that of
stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...
, confirming the object's artificial nature. Following the object's confirmation as
space debris Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, space garbage, or cosmic debris) are defunct human-made objects in spaceprincipally in Earth orbitwhich no longer serve a useful function. These include dere ...
, the object was removed from the
Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Funct ...
's database on 19 February 2021.


Overview

As it approached Earth, the trajectory indicated the geocentric
orbital eccentricity In astrodynamics, the orbital eccentricity of an astronomical object is a dimensionless parameter that determines the amount by which its orbit around another body deviates from a perfect circle. A value of 0 is a circular orbit, values be ...
was less than 1 by 15 October 2020, and the object became temporarily captured on 8 November when it entered Earth's
Hill sphere The Hill sphere is a common model for the calculation of a Sphere of influence (astrodynamics), gravitational sphere of influence. It is the most commonly used model to calculate the spatial extent of gravitational influence of an astronomical ...
. It entered via the outer
Lagrange point In celestial mechanics, the Lagrange points (; also Lagrangian points or libration points) are points of equilibrium for small-mass objects under the gravitational influence of two massive orbiting bodies. Mathematically, this involves t ...
and will exit via Lagrange point . During its
geocentric orbit A geocentric orbit, Earth-centered orbit, or Earth orbit involves any object orbiting Earth, such as the Moon or artificial satellites. In 1997, NASA estimated there were approximately 2,465 artificial satellite payloads orbiting Earth and 6,21 ...
around Earth, 2020 SO made a close approach to Earth on 1 December 2020 at a
perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...
distance of approximately . It also made another close approach on 2 February 2021, at a perigee distance of approximately . Since discovery the time of uncertainty for February 2021 closest approach to Earth was reduced from ±3 days to less than 1 minute. It left Earth's Hill sphere at around 8 March 2021. Paul Chodas of the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in La Cañada Flintridge, California, Crescenta Valley, United States. Founded in 1936 by Cali ...
suspects 2020 SO of being the Surveyor 2
Centaur A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...
rocket
booster Booster may refer to: Amusement rides * Booster (Fabbri ride), a pendulum ride * Booster (HUSS ride), an evolution of the Breakdance ride * Booster (KMG ride), a pendulum ride Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Booster, a cha ...
, launched on 20 September 1966. The Earth-like orbit and low
relative velocity The relative velocity of an object ''B'' relative to an observer ''A'', denoted \mathbf v_ (also \mathbf v_ or \mathbf v_), is the velocity vector of ''B'' measured in the rest frame of ''A''. The relative speed v_ = \, \mathbf v_\, is the v ...
suggest a possible artificial object.
Spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectro ...
may help determine if it is covered in white
titanium dioxide Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium(IV) oxide or titania , is the inorganic compound derived from titanium with the chemical formula . When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6 (PW6), or Colour Index Internationa ...
paint. Goldstone radar produced bistatic observations on 30 November 2020 transmitting from the 70-meter DSS-14 and receiving at the 34-meter DSS-13. As a result of the bistatic DSS-14/RT-32 radar observations, a rotation period of about 9.5 seconds was obtained, which corresponds to the photometric observations. Obtained range-Doppler radar images confirm that the object has an elongated shape with a length of about 10 meters and a width of about 3 meters. Around the time of closest approach on 1 December 2020, the object was only brightened to about
apparent magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the Irradiance, brightness of a star, astronomical object or other celestial objects like artificial satellites. Its value depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance, and any extinction (astronomy), ...
14.1, and required a telescope with roughly a 150mm (6")
objective lens In optical engineering, an objective is an optical element that gathers light from an object being observed and focuses the light rays from it to produce a real image of the object. Objectives can be a single lens or mirror, or combinations of ...
to be seen visually. It displays a large
light curve In astronomy, a light curve is a graph (discrete mathematics), graph of the Radiance, light intensity of a celestial object or region as a function of time, typically with the magnitude (astronomy), magnitude of light received on the ''y''-axis ...
amplitude of 2.5 magnitudes, signifying a highly elongated shape or albedo variations on its surface. It has a rotation period of approximately 9 seconds. At the time of its discovery, 2020 SO had unremarkable motion typical of a
main-belt asteroid The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids ...
. However, the four observations that Pan-STARRS obtained over the course of 1.4 hours showed non-linear motion due to the rotation of the observer around Earth's axis, which is a signature of a nearby object. In January and February 2036, it will again approach Earth with a geocentric eccentricity less than 1 since the relative velocities will be small, but will not be within Earth's Hill sphere of .


See also

*
J002E3 J002E3 is an object in space which is thought to be the S-IVB third stage of the Apollo 12 Saturn V rocket. It was discovered on September 3, 2002, by amateur astronomer Bill Yeung. Initially thought to be an asteroid, it has since been tent ...
– a near-Earth object discovered in 2002 that was identified as the
S-IVB The S-IVB (pronounced "S-four-B") was the third stage on the Saturn V and second stage on the Saturn IB launch vehicles. Built by the Douglas Aircraft Company, it had one J-2 rocket engine. For lunar missions it was fired twice: first for Earth ...
third stage of the
Apollo 12 Apollo 12 (November 14–24, 1969) was the sixth crewed flight in the United States Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. It was launched on November 14, 1969, by NASA from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Commander Charles ...
Saturn V The Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, had multistage rocket, three stages, and was powered by liquid-propel ...
rocket *
WT1190F WT1190F (9U01FF6, UDA34A3, or UW8551D) was a small temporary satellite of Earth that impacted Earth on 13 November 2015 at 06:18:21.7 (± 0.1 seconds) UTC. It is thought to have been space debris from the trans-lunar injection stage of the ...
– temporarily orbiting space debris that entered Earth's atmosphere in 2015 * – an artificial object discovered in a temporary orbit around Earth in 2018, now suspected to be the ''Snoopy'' module from
Apollo 10 Apollo 10 (May 18–26, 1969) was the fourth human spaceflight in the United States' Apollo program and the second to orbit the Moon. NASA, the mission's operator, described it as a "dress rehearsal" for the first Moon landing (Apollo 11, two ...
* 6Q0B44E – another artificial object discovered in orbit around Earth in 2018 *
Space debris Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, space garbage, or cosmic debris) are defunct human-made objects in spaceprincipally in Earth orbitwhich no longer serve a useful function. These include dere ...
* Temporary satellite


Notes


References


External links


"Pseudo-MPEC" for 2020 SO = Surveyor 2 Centaur
Bill Gray, ''Project Pluto'', 31 January 2021
Earth May Have Recaptured a 1960s-Era Rocket Booster
Tony Greicius,
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
, 12 November 2020
Animation of the Line of Variation (via clone orbits) stretching out from December 2020 to May 2021

01 Dec 2020 image and rotation
– Virtual Telescope Project / G. Masi
01 Dec 2020 time-lapse and photometry
– Virtual Telescope Project / G. Masi * {{DEFAULTSORT:2020 SO Minor planet object articles (unnumbered) # Claimed moons of Earth Space debris 20200917 20200917 Rocket stages Atlas (rocket family) Surveyor program (NASA)