This Potentially Dangerous Near-Earth Asteroid Found Has Awkward Activity

This near-Earth asteroid, dubbed Phaethon saai, is becoming a concern, (photo: Arecibo Observatory/NASA/NSF)

JAKARTA - A near-Earth asteroid dubbed Phaethon is currently gaining attention, because scientists have discovered strange activity from the space object.

Scientists see the asteroid Phaethon experiencing an increasingly fast rotation. According to them, it is rare for the spin on the asteroid to change.

Phaethon is the 11th asteroid known to show a change in its rotation period, and the largest of the space rocks with an average diameter of 3.4 miles.

Interestingly, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will launch the DESTINY+ mission to Phaethon in 2024, with the aim of flying past the space rock by 2028, so scientists can more accurately predict the orientation of the asteroid during the spacecraft's flyby.

In turn, scientists can also look more specifically at their findings from the data obtained by the DESTINY+ mission. Before this mission was launched, scientists first studied the potentially dangerous asteroid.

Furthermore, a planetary scientist at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, Sean Marshall has just created a model to determine the shape of Phaethon in preparation for the DESTINY+ mission.

"The predictions from the shape model don't match the data. The times when the model was brightest were clearly out of sync with the times when Phaethon was actually observed to be at its brightest. I realize this can be explained by Phaethon's rotation period being slightly changed at some time prior to the observation. 2021, maybe from comet-like," Marshall said.

"Its activity when it is near perihelion (the point in its orbit closest to the Sun) in December 2020," he continued.

Citing Space, Monday, October 17, Marshall determined that the model that best fits the data includes a constant rotational acceleration, in other words, a regular decrease in Phaethon's rotational period by 4 milliseconds per year.

Scientists are still learning about Phaethon, and the DESTINY+ mission is sure to reveal more.

Although Phaethon is large enough and close to Earth to be labeled a potentially dangerous asteroid, scientists say it poses no direct threat to the planet.