I am fond of saying that the further from Earth we go, the weirder things get in a general sense. You’ll never convince me of otherwise. Ever. This object is just the latest in the ever-so-wacky universe that lies way, way, way “out there.”
About the only thing agreed upon so far is that it isn’t a comet and has been therefore classed as an asteroid, based solely on composition… it’s assumed, more specifically to be the result of a high speed asteroidal hit-and-run. You know what happens when you assume.
So we need to know exactly how, if it’s a scooting junk pile of the shattered remains of two rocks whacking into each other, do we get this absolutely fabulous shape… a shape more reminiscent of some kind of alien battle cruiser from a slick Hollywood movie?
Assuming that the “crosspiece” is asteroid A’s trail, how did it make such a hard left turn? I’d always been taught that objects, especially objects in space, tend to go in pretty much straight lines, unless there’s something wickedly dense close by… right? Hence everyone’s, scientists and debunkers, too, reaction being something somewhat similar to … what’s all this, then?
Not to mention that 460 foot wide glowing “rock” at the leading edge of the aforementioned asteroid A’s trail… hmmm… anyone?
So strange is this thing that even arch NASA supporter and “ice crystals and debris” flogger Jim Oberg himself has called it a UFO… yes… he called it a UFO…
In fact, I spotted it first in the very thread started by Jim Oberg at the AboveTopSecret conspiracy site :
“Spiral UFO” Photographed by Hubble — in the Asteroid Belt!!
Sorta spiral shaped, maybe more cross-shaped…
but weird all the same…
Suspected Asteroid Collision Leaves Odd X-Pattern of Suspected Asteroid Collision Leaves Odd X-Pattern of Trailing Debris
FEBRUARY 2, 2010: Something awfully curious is happening 100 million miles from Earth in the asteroid belt. There’s a newly discovered object that superficially looks like a comet but lives among the asteroids. The distinction? Comets swoop along elliptical orbits close in to the Sun and grow long gaseous and dusty tails, as ices near the surface turn into vapor and release dust. But asteroids are mostly in circular orbits in the asteroid belt and are not normally expected to be “volatile.”
photo – imgsrc.hubblesite.org…
And then there’s this piece, too, an article, Space UFO baffles boffins, at The Sun, a not too journalistic journal, but this they couldn’t mess up… for an additional perspective…
THIS amazing UFO has left scientists baffled — after boffins claimed it was NOT a comet streaking through space.
It was first spotted early last month so astronomers turned the Hubble telescope on it last week to get these close up images.
The object — named P/2010 A2 — is of a type never before seen by stargazers and orbits in a satellite belt between Mars and Jupiter. (emphasis mine)
Despite its tail they have ruled out it being a comet, as there is no gas in its trail.
The 140-metre nucleus is also offset from the centre of the tail and its structure is very unusual.
The most likely theory is that it is debris from a collision between two asteroids which were likely to have smashed together at a speed of 15,000 kilometres an hour, five times the speed of a rifle bullet.
The resulting collision would have released more energy than a nuclear bomb.
It is believed that pressure from sunlight then spread the debris out into a trail.
Dr Robert J Nemiroff, astrophysicist at Michigan Technological University and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, said: “Future study of P/2010 A2 may better indicate the nature of the original collision and may help humanity better understand the early years of our Solar System, when many similar collisions occurred.”
He added: “What is this strange object? First discovered on ground based LINEAR images on January 6, the object appeared unusual enough to investigate further with the Hubble Space Telescope last week.
“What Hubble saw indicates that P/2010 A2 is unlike any object ever seen before. At first glance, the object appears to have the tail of a comet.
“Close inspection, however, shows a 140-metre nucleus offset from the tail centre, very unusual structure near the nucleus, and no discernable gas in the tail.
“Knowing that the object orbits in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, a preliminary hypothesis that appears to explain all of the known clues is that P/2010 A2 is the debris left over from a recent collision between two small asteroids.
“If true, the collision likely occurred at over 15,000 kilometres per hour, five times the speed of a rifle bullet, and liberated energy in excess of a nuclear bomb.
“Pressure from sunlight would then spread out the debris into a trailing tail.”
The mysterious object was circling about 90 million miles (144 million km) away from Earth when it was spotted.
I just think it’s seriously beyond cool — and although I don’t think that it’s a cruiser by any means — I just want to know what in the hell that thing really is…
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What’s All This, Then? 