{"id":19569,"date":"2015-11-12T17:40:57","date_gmt":"2015-11-12T09:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/mystery-object-wt1190f-comes-down-over-indian-ocean-but-fails-to-make-a-splash\/"},"modified":"2015-11-12T17:40:57","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T09:40:57","slug":"mystery-object-wt1190f-comes-down-over-indian-ocean-but-fails-to-make-a-splash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/mystery-object-wt1190f-comes-down-over-indian-ocean-but-fails-to-make-a-splash\/","title":{"rendered":"Mystery object WT1190F comes down over Indian Ocean but fails to make a splash"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"An
An image taken from a NASA DC-8 airplane shows the re-entry of Japan\u2019s Hayabusa spacecraft in 2010. WT1190F\u2019s re-entry was far less spectacular because it occurred at midday local time amid cloudy weather. (Credit: Jesse Carpenter \/ Greg Merkes \/ NASA Ames file)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Was it a spent Apollo rocket stage from the \u201960s? A scary space rock? Whatever it was, the mysterious object known as WT1190F zoomed in from deep space and went out in a largely unseen blaze of glory today.<\/p>\n

\"WT1190F\"
The red arrow indicates WT1190F in this image taken by the University of Hawaii 2.2-meter telescope. (Credit: B. Bolin, R. Jedicke, M. Micheli)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Experts on orbital debris said WT1190F was probably a low-density object measuring just 6 feet (2 meters) long. Astronomers with the Catalina Sky Survey first observed the object in October. When they looked back at archived telescope data, they figured out that it had been tracing a highly eccentric orbit around Earth that swung out beyond the moon\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n

Update: WT1190F caught on aerial video<\/strong><\/p>\n

The European Space Agency said the best match for an object with those characteristics was a \u201cdiscarded rocket body.\u201d Other observers suggested it could be debris cast off by a moon mission, perhaps going back to the Apollo era. No wonder the thing was nicknamed \u201cWTF.\u201d<\/p>\n