A 36-foot-wide near-Earth object known as 1998 KY26 is accelerating through the solar system in a way that gravity alone cannot explain, Fox News reported.
Scientists have classified the object as a near-Earth asteroid, but it lacks a visible cometary tail or any signs of escaping gas. That unusual motion has sparked competing theories about its true nature.
“I’ve not seen any evidence to suggest this is…anything other than an asteroid,” said Jared Isaacman, during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.”
Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has challenged that assessment. He contends that the object is not an asteroid because of its non-gravitational acceleration.
The Lost Soviet Spacecraft Theory
Loeb and his colleagues have examined whether 1998 KY26 could actually be Phobos 1, a Soviet spacecraft that stopped communicating while traveling to Mars in 1988, Fox News reported.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have also studied the mysterious object, which is currently located 189 million miles away from Earth, according to Fox Business.
One previous hypothesis suggested the object is a “dark comet”—a rocky body behaving like a comet without producing a visible tail. However, new research published in the journal Icarus has cast doubt on that idea.
Aerospace engineers Korbin Hansen and Masatoshi Hirabayashi found that water outgassing rates would be too high to maintain buried ice at the object’s observed temperatures, according to Futurism. Their thermal models showed that 1998 KY26 is too warm for ice reserves to survive, meaning it would have exhausted any volatile fuel in just 62 years.
Sunlight Pressure Versus Alternative Origins
With ice sublimation ruled out by recent thermal modeling, scientists have explored other mechanisms to explain the acceleration.
Loeb’s team calculated that sunlight reflecting off Phobos 1 could produce a push consistent with the observed acceleration. The object also rotates once every five minutes and is highly reflective, characteristics that deepen the debate.
“If you are an expert on zebras and you see an elephant, you would say the elephant is a zebra without stripes,” Avi Loeb told Fox News Digital. “But that’s an oxymoron because it’s a completely different animal.”
Loeb argued that researchers should consider explanations outside familiar categories when observations do not fit standard models.
Rendezvous in July 2031
The debate over 1998 KY26 is scheduled to be settled when the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft reaches the object, according to Futurism.
The Hayabusa2 probe is expected to rendezvous with 1998 KY26 in July 2031. The mission will provide a firsthand look at the mysterious body and test whether it is a natural rock or a piece of human-made hardware.
“We predict that when they land on it, instead of seeing an iceberg, they will find the label ‘Made in the USSR,’” Loeb told Fox News Digital.
When asked if the Phobos 1 theory would be finished if Hayabusa2 finds only ordinary rock or ice, Loeb answered affirmatively, according to Fox News.
Frequently Asked Questions About 1998 KY26
How large is the object 1998 KY26?
The object measures roughly 36 feet across and is roughly the size of a school bus, according to mission data and Fox Business reporting.
Why do scientists think 1998 KY26 is accelerating?
Astronomers have observed that the object is gaining speed in a way that gravity cannot explain. While some researchers point to solar radiation pressure and thermal emissions, others investigate whether it experiences non-gravitational propulsion from an artificial or cometary source.
When will space agencies reach the object?
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft is scheduled to rendezvous with 1998 KY26 in July 2031, according to Futurism.
Keep reading