Scientists have been left baffled by a mystery object hurtling through space that appears to be accelerating.
A study by the Georgia Institute of Technology has shown that what was thought to be an asteroid is speeding up due to something other than gravity.
The space rock is around 36ft in length, a relatively tiny rock, and spins once every 5.35minutes and is currently around 189million away from Earth.
According to the European Space Agency, it will come within 32million miles of us in 2028, but in 2039 it’ll be even closer at less than 10million miles.
Known as 1998 KY26, Harvard Professor Avi Loeb has suggested that the object is not a piece of space rock but actually a lost spacecraft.
Loeb theorised that it is really Phobos 1, which was launched by the Soviet Union in 1988 but disappeared months into its journey to Mars.
1998 KY26 was discovered to be moving faster than normal in 2023, after 25 years of telescope data collection.
Aerospace engineers Korbin Hansen and Masatoshi Hirabayashi concluded that the speed is not the result of any natural phenomenon.
‘We determined that 1998 KY26 is likely a dehydrated asteroid,’ they wrote in the study.
One ‘dark comet’ theory suggested that there was hidden ice inside the astroid that was slowly turning into gas, giving it a little push.
No tail or dust cloud could be seen, and it’s been reported that 1998 KY26 is too warm to carry ice through space, sitting around -53°F to -78°F or warmer.
The physicist proposed that it’s the Sun’s energy on Phobos 1’s shiny metal surfaces and solar panels that is creating a condition known as solar radiation pressure.
‘The similarity of the orbit of 1998 KY26 to the orbit of the lost Phobos 1 spacecraft suggests that the two objects are the same,’ Loeb said in a statement.
In 2031, a Japanese probe is set to intercept the mystery debris and become the first spacecraft to make contact with and study a space object that small.
‘Our prediction is that instead of an iceberg, Hayabusa 2’s cameras will reveal the label “Made in the U.S.S.R.”‘ the professor added.
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