(N.Morgan) The asteroid known as Moby Dick, that was coming near the earth, has gone missing. It is not uncommon for asteroids to go missing, but its apparent disappearance highlights just how poor Earth is at asteroid surveillance. So what has happened to asteroid 2000 EM26? The most likely scenario is that it is on a very different path from its expected trajectory, and the telescope wasn’t looking in the right place, says Slooh CEO Michael Paolucci. Generally, astronomers try to predict an asteroid’s trajectory by looking at how light reflects off its surface. This tells them what it is probably made of, how it is spinning and where it might go next.

Asteroid 2000 EM26 was discovered 14 years ago and has not been seen since, so astronomers have limited information about it. Not knowing enough about how the asteroid rotates makes it hard to know how other forces, like radiation pressure from sunlight, might nudge the rock onto a different trajectory.

Generally, it is not unusual to be uncertain about any asteroid’s future whereabouts, says Paolucci. Even before Moby Dick failed to show, the telescope’s operators were deliberating with a partner in Dubai about exactly where to look. “It’s a major chore figuring out how to reacquire asteroids,” says Paolucci. “It’s almost like discovering them all over again.”