Asteroid or glitch? Google Sky user spots strange, undiscovered glowing rock in our solar system



A user has found a 'huge asteroid' while scanning the virtual heavens using Googly Sky.

Youtube user planetkrejci, who has investigated other anomalies on NASA pictures, claims the object - found using the Google website which transports the heavens to desktop computers and smartphones - is an asteroid which is heading towards Earth.

He says the asteroid - which, if real, has not been spotted by other scientists or astronomers - has only appeared recently on Google Sky, which receives updated images every few months.

The asteroid - the co-ordinates of which are available below - was spotted by user planetkrejci in a video posted three days ago

Close-up: The object certainly looks like an asteroid - which seems to be spotted with green flecks

Announcing his find on YouTube, he says the black object, mottled with green spots, is so clear that it must be within the solar system.

The user had been exploring the region a few months earlier, and had 'bookmarked' a spot just to the left of the asteroid - so he is certain the object was not there previously.

There are other explanations - this could be a simple technical glitch, either on Google Sky's end or within the original photograph.

The earthbound Google Maps regularly has glitches where pictures have been incorrectly sewn together.

In context: The apparent clarity of the 'asteroid' implies it is close, certainly within our solar system

One thing that planekrejci does not substantiate is his claim that the object is moving towards the Earth, as it is not apparent how this calculation could be obtained without more information than the image provides.



However, if planetkrejci has found a new object, it will be quite an achievement for an earth-bound Internet user to discover a new object in our solar system before NASA or other observatories.



The object is easy to find on Google Sky, by typing in the co-ordinates 5h 11m 33.74s -12 50' 30.09" - although conspiracy theorists might read something into the fact that the search function on Google Sky is currently down...

