2010 AL30 to closely pass by Earth today

Astronomers will be able to see the object making close approach to the Earth’s surface at 7:45 a.m. EST, when it will be only 76,000 miles away from our planet. This is nearly one-third the distance between Earth and the moon.

2010 AL30, which is approximately 11 meters, will appear as bright as a 14th magnitude star and will cross through the constellations Orion, Taurus and Pisces while it passes by Earth.

Man-made object or asteroid?
The mysterious object has left scientist wondering whether 2010 AL30 is an asteroid or part of a spacecraft.

Italian scientists Ernesto Guido and Giovanni Sostero of the Remanzacco Observatory stated that 2010 AL30’s orbital period is almost equal to Earth’s one year period; therefore it could be a man-made object like a spent rocket booster or some other part from the spacecraft.

Contradicting Italian scientists’ assertion, another group of observers believe that the object is not artificial as its orbit perfectly crosses Earth’s orbit at a very steep angle.

Alan Harris at the US Space Science Institute posted a message on the Minor Planet Mailing List stating that the object is “Unlikely to be artificial, it's orbit doesn't resemble any useful spacecraft trajectory, and its encounter velocity with the Earth is not unusually low, around 9.5 km/sec "v_infinity.""

Likewise Paul Chodas, a scientist at NASA's Near-Earth Object Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, confirmed that the object’s path is not similar to the type used to send a spacecraft out of Earth’s orbit.

Further, the space rock is not followed by other objects that typically follow a man-made object. Nor can the object be associated to Apollo lunar missions in the 1960s and 1970s when many spacecrafts were launched.

2010 AL30, a part of near Earth objects
2010 AL30 is a part of the 2 million objects that have a near-Earth orbit. These asteroids survive in the orbit for a few million years.

It is normal for an asteroid of this size to pass Earth within the distance of a moon about once a week. They usually burn in the atmosphere causing little or no damage.

2010 AL30 is not the only space object passing through Earth this week. Another object named 2010 AG30 will pass by Earth on Thursday at a distance of 650,000 miles.