Approaching Asteroid May Be Leftover Apollo 'Space Junk'

"Jorge R. Frank" wrote

If it's an SLA, then did it vary *a lot* in brightness ? It is a panel
and must show end on at times, or side on.

Yes. See the animation at:

http://www.space.com/scienceastronom...on_040319.html

"This series of images was collected by Gianluca Masi and Franco Mallia.
Masi, of the Campo Catino Astronomical Observatory, told SPACE.com the
variations in brightness in the image are due to the asteroid's fast
rotation about its axis."


With that kind of rotation and the close approach, there are a half-
dozen or more radars around the planet that might have gotten useful
ISAR images of it. Whether any of them got their act together quickly
enough to do anything is another question.