Big asteroid that skimmed Earth has its own moon: Nasa

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield called the discovery of a moon trailing asteroid 2004 BL86 "strangely delightful" on Twitter. Here in this NASA photo taken on Christmas 2012 he strums his guitar in the International Space Station. Hadf
Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield called the discovery of a moon trailing asteroid 2004 BL86 "strangely delightful" on Twitter. Here in this NASA photo taken on Christmas 2012 he strums his guitar in the International Space Station. Hadfield became famous by singing the song Space Oddity by David Bowie while floating in the station's weightless environment in a video that became a sensation on YouTube. -- PHOTO: AFP 

MIAMI (AFP) - An unusually large asteroid that just skimmed by Earth had its own moon, NASA said Tuesday as the US space agency released its first radar images of the flyby.

The asteroid known as 2004 BL86 made its closest approach late Monday at a distance about three times further than Earth's own Moon.

Radar images from NASA's Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, California show that the asteroid itself was about 150 meters smaller than expected, and measured about 325 meters across.

The asteroid's small moon was approximately 70 meters across.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield called the discovery "strangely delightful,", and wondered on Twitter: "Who gets to name it?"

The asteroid was already unusual because it was about 10 times bigger than most near-Earth objects, which range from 15 to 30 meters in diameter.

NASA said that about 16 per cent of asteroids in 2004 BL86's size category - meaning those that are 200 meters or larger - are "binary", meaning there is a primary asteroid with a smaller asteroid moon orbiting it.

Some even have two moons.

The odd couple of 2004 BL86 and its moon will not come this way again for another two centuries, astronomers say.

The next big space rock known to be heading this way is asteroid 1999 AN10, which NASA said should fly past Earth in 2027.

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