Images Dated 4th March 1999

Us-Asteroid Streak

This 06 April 1994 image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope shows stars that lie near the center of our galaxy some 25, 000 light-years distant. But one object, the blue curved streak (Upper-R), is something much closer. An uncatalogued, mile-wide bit of rocky debris orbiting the Sun only light-minutes away strayed into the cameras field while the image was being exposed. This and about a hundred other interlopers have been found by Jet Propulsion Laboratory astronomers who have systematically searched the HST archive for these nearby objects. Their analysis indicates this asteroid's orbit could cross Mars path. Seen briefly by HST, these asteroids are too small and faint to track from the ground long enough for precise orbits to be determined. AFP PHOTO NASA/HUBBLE HERITAGE TEAM / AFP PHOTO / NASA

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