Scientists Believed This Near-Earth Object Was an Asteroid for 28 Years. They Were Wrong

Scientists Believed This Near-Earth Object Was an Asteroid for 28 Years. They Were Wrong

The asteroid 1998 SH2 is actually not an asteroid at all.

NASA Finds Near-Earth Asteroid Is Really a Comet - Clarksville Online - Clarksville News, Sports, Events and Information

Pasadena, CA – New research led by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California has revealed the identity of a puzzling near-Earth object by precisely tracking its motion through space and using powerful observatories that image faint celestial objects. This object has a dual personality: Past images hadn’t revealed obvious cometlike activity, suggesting it might be an asteroid, but its motion recently proved to be irreg…