First Radar Glance Reveals that Asteroid 1998 QE2 has a Moon

1998_QE2_Has moon image credit NASA JPL posted on Space Safety Magazine
That’s no moon. … Oh, yes it is! Image Credit: NASA/JPL

The asteroid 1998 QE2, which is making its pass this week, apparently has a moon, as shown in the video below.

A flash in the radar image shows the small mass orbiting the 2.7 km-wide asteroid. The smaller moon is estimated to be some 610 meters across. The radar images were taken late on Wednesday, May 29 using the Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif. There will be many more images and measurements made of this object, as it passes within 5.8 million kilometers from Earth this weekend.

[youtube_video]http://youtu.be/VnMyDYrgFws[/youtube_video]

Video courtesy of JPL News

This article was written by Phillip Keane and originally appeared in Space Safety Magazine. It can be reviewed here: Asteroid

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