On Jan. 2, the Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced the discovery of an unusual asteroid, designated 2018 CN41.
No, that is not the name of the latest Musk child as a companion to X Æ A-Xii. However, it is Musk’s Tesla Roadster still cruising around space and briefly classified as a new comet. So much for concern over cold weather and battery time.
The new comet was first noted by amateur scientist H. A. Güler, when it came less than 150,000 miles (240,000 km) from Earth, closer than the orbit of the Moon.
That distance qualified it as a near-Earth object (NEO) and it was given an official designation.
Within 24 hours, however, the Minor Planet Center (MPC) issued an editorial notice: It deleted 2018 CN41 from its records because it is Musk’s car.
Güler took it in stride, writing:
“I’m thinking the holy grail could be a beautiful comet, an interstellar visitor, or an alien spacecraft like in [Arthur C.] Clarke’s book Rendezvous with Rama, heh 🙂 None of that might happen, but that won’t stop me from dreaming about it. Realistically, at this point in time I will settle for anything that’s not a car.”
For the rest of us, it was the most exciting sighting since the Mercury Comet was first spotted outside Detroit in 1960.
