14 DAY TRIAL // Just a few days ago, on July 19, an asteroid dubbed 2011 UW-158 flew by our planet. The orb made its closest approach at 7:37 a.m. PST, when it came within 1.5 million miles (2.4 million kilometers) of Earth.
With the help of ground-based telescopes, astronomers managed to catch a glimpse of the asteroid as it was moving towards our planet and the resulting views were then made into a video.
The footage in question, released by NASA just yesterday, is available below. It shows 2011 UW-158 spinning around in space and confirms that, as previously assumed, this space rock has a fairly irregular shape.
Having had the chance to study it with the help of radio telescopes, researchers determined that the space rock measures 2,000 by 1,000 feet (600 by 300 meters). It is elongated and displays parallel, linear features on its surface.
Bizarre shape aside, what's puzzling about 2011 UW-158 is the fact that it spins much faster than other asteroids. “Its fast rotation suggests the object has greater mechanical strength than other asteroids its size,” astronomers say.
Judging by its orbit, it looks like it won't be until 93 years from now that 2011 UW-158 will once again approach our planet and fly by it.
