An object that was incorrectly identified by an amateur astronomer as an asteroid has turned out to be a Tesla Roadster.

Earlier this month, on Jan. 2, a new asteroid called 2018 CN41 was <a data-evt-val="{&quot;control_fields&quot;: {&quot;mparticle&quot;: {&quot;keys&quot;: {&quot;click_source_type&quot;: &quot;click_source_type&quot;, &quot;anchor_text&quot;: &quot;anchor_text&quot;, &quot;target_url&quot;: &quot;target_url&quot;, &quot;layout_section&quot;: &quot;layout_section&quot;}, &quot;mp_event_type&quot;: &quot;Navigation&quot;, &quot;extra_keys&quot;: [&quot;click_vertical_position_percentage&quot;, &quot;click_vertical_position_pixels&quot;]}}, &quot;click_source_type&quot;: &quot;in-page link&quot;, &quot;anchor_text&quot;: &quot;announced by the Minor Planet Center&quot;, &quot;target_url&quot;: &quot;https://minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K25/K25A38.html&quot;, &quot;layout_section&quot;: &quot;in-page-link&quot;}" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-evt="click" data-evt-typ="click" href="https://minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K25/K25A38.html" target="_blank">announced by the Minor Planet Center</a> at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The next day, however, they posted a notice to say it <a data-evt-val="{&quot;control_fields&quot;: {&quot;mparticle&quot;: {&quot;keys&quot;: {&quot;click_source_type&quot;: &quot;click_source_type&quot;, &quot;anchor_text&quot;: &quot;anchor_text&quot;, &quot;target_url&quot;: &quot;target_url&quot;, &quot;layout_section&quot;: &quot;layout_section&quot;}, &quot;mp_event_type&quot;: &quot;Navigation&quot;, &quot;extra_keys&quot;: [&quot;click_vertical_position_percentage&quot;, &quot;click_vertical_position_pixels&quot;]}}, &quot;click_source_type&quot;: &quot;in-page link&quot;, &quot;anchor_text&quot;: &quot;was being deleted&quot;, &quot;target_url&quot;: &quot;https://minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K25/K25A49.html&quot;, &quot;layout_section&quot;: &quot;in-page-link&quot;}" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-evt="click" data-evt-typ="click" href="https://minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K25/K25A49.html" target="_blank">was being deleted</a>.

In a bizarre twist, the centre said the object was actually a Tesla Roadster.

A red sports car belonging to Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk was launched into orbit in 2018.{ai:summary}<p>An object initially classified as an asteroid named 2018 CN41 was later retracted by the Minor Planet Center, which identified it as a Tesla Roadster instead. The announcement was made shortly after the initial discovery on January 2. </p><p>This unusual case highlights the challenges in accurately identifying celestial objects. #science</p>

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