Pictures of a near-Earth binary asteroid system have been taken by astronomers using NASA's Goldstone radar telescope.

Images show a trail of a smaller component orbiting a larger object. This system was the third binary near-Earth asteroid pair revealed by radar, but it was the first time when scientists captured the complete orbit of one component around the other.

The image was taken when the asteroid came within five million kilometers of Earth (over 3 million miles) by the end of May 2001. It is classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid, because eventually its path through space could intersect Earth. However, the radar measurements, which are accurate to 15 meters