Hubble telescope captures image of mysterious x-shaped object in space
BY MICHAEL SHERIDAN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Originally Published:Wednesday, February 3rd 2010, 10:22 AM
Updated: Wednesday, February 3rd 2010, 10:22 AM
Scientists are offering up their own theories as to what created the striking star-inspired image, which was captured by NASA's Hubble telescope in January.
"Two small and previously unknown asteroids recently collided, creating a shower of debris that is being swept back into a tail from the collision site by the pressure of sunlight," said principal investigator David Jewitt of the University of California at Los Angeles.
The object - dubbed “P/2010 A2” after it was discovered in early January by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research program sky survey - has traits similar to a comet, but the x-shape appears disconnected from the tail.
"The filamentary appearance of P/2010 A2 is different from anything seen in Hubble images of normal comets," Jewitt said.
Sci-fi lovers may instead go for a more fantastical theory, believing it to be the "Last Starfighter" or, perhaps, a Kilrathi dreadnought from the Wing Commander video game.
What's your theory?
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