Starship Asterisk*

I inquired to JPL about a possibly updated density figure for this object. We still only have the nearly month-old, 'very preliminary' estimate of ~1 g/cm^3. My query has gone unanswered. In retrospect, it seems odd that so much was made of the fact that an accurate density figure for the object, an...

This link to a page from the Lincoln Laboratory seems to establish that the classification 'Ch' for QE2 had been made as early as 1998, 15 years ago: http://earn.dlr.de/nea/285263.htm Recent observations at Table Mountain and Palomar observatories support this classification. It's still not clear wh...

There have been 15 years of observation of QE2. These have consistently seen it classified as C class, similar to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. Odd that at least one recent observation has yielded mixed D and X class spectra. If one side or portion of the object has the indicated composition, w...

It almost looks as if a C class asteroid received debris on one side, from the nearby collision of a D and an X class asteroid. Odd, though, that such debris didn't persist long enough to cover both sides of QE2. It only takes a couple of hours for it to turn its opposite face in any given direction...

The mineral composition of QE2 appears to have yet another layer of complexity. Besides the odd mixture of asteroid Class X (metallic) and D (mixed silicates) indications, we now have more. Spectra taken at the Hale telescope, Palomar observatory, give a 'best fit' for class C, similar to carbonaceo...

Its usual for comets to have a mineral 'slag' coating. If it becomes too thick, it can shut off ice sublimation altogether, causing the comet to become extinct. Could a comet pass close enough to an asteroid to have its orbit altered to one like an asteroid? Given the low mass of asteroids, this see...

Hyperion, like most of Saturn's moons, is probably largely ice. The bulk densities range from about 0.5 to 1.5 g/cm^3. Given a very preliminary density figure for 1998 QE2 of 1 g/cm^3, it's tempting to think it mostly ice, too. That, of course, suggests an extinct comet nucleus. The Tisserand parame...