Discovered 11 July 2005 | Asteroid group Apollo asteroid | |
2005 NB56, also written as 2005 NB56, is a near-Earth object. This small body has been suggested as a possible source of the Tunguska event on June 30, 1908.
Controversial study
One study "suggests that a chunk of a comet caused the 5-10 megaton fireball, bouncing off the atmosphere and back into orbit around the sun."
This object made a close approach to Earth when it was discovered in 2005 and will do so again in 2045. This object has a poorly known orbit and was only observed over an observation arc of 17 days, not sufficient to predict its position in 1908 with sufficient accuracy.
References
2005 NB56 Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA