[meteorite-list] Fwd: Is asteroid 2004 MN4 the rocket body from Surveyor 3 probe?

From: Herbert Raab <herbert.raab_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun Dec 26 08:34:19 2004
Message-ID: <41CECBCF.2394.1BA90E_at_localhost>

> So that adds a possibility that 2004 MN4 could be a
> leftover rocket body from Surveyor 3.

I think this is unlikely. 2004 MN4 has a absolute magnitude
of 19.6mag, which gives an estimated diameter of ~300 meters,
assuming a typical (that is, dark) surface of an asteroid.
If it is a rocket stage painted white, it may be smaller
and still appear that bright, though. However, the object
designated J002E3 that was observed in 2002 and turned out
to be the third stage of the Saturn IV rcoket that brought
Apollo 12 to the moon, had a absolute magnitude of 26.4mag
(that is, 600 times fainter than 2004 MN4). I would say that
it is highly unlikely that an object that bright/big is man
made.

Happy holidays,

  Herbert Raab
Received on Sun 26 Dec 2004 08:33:51 AM PST