The wannabe asteroid, announced on Jan. 2 as 2018 CN41, is actually a Tesla Roadster launched into space years ago by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The company sent the car (with a spacesuit-clad mannequin called "Starman" in the driver's seat) into a long orbit around the sun in 2018 as the first payload of the company's Falcon Heavy rocket.

Look, up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a… Tesla?” Recently the Minor Planet Center (MPC) announced the discovery of a new asteroid – 2018 CN41. Its orbit was closer than that of the Moon making it a near-Earth object and subject to the attention of scientists because it may someday hit the Earth.

Astronomers announced the discovery of a new near-Earth asteroid, which turned out to be Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster launched in 2018. The car, initially thought to be an asteroid, was later identified as Musk's space junk after investigation.

Less than 24 hours after the Minor Planet Center announced a new asteroid, it said the object was actually Musk's electric car launched into space as payload on a rocket.

The “asteroid” wasn’t a space rock after all. It was a cherry-red Tesla Roadster that Elon Musk launched into space to much fanfare in 2018 as part of a publicity stunt during the maiden flight of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket. The car, complete with a mannequin named “Starman” in the driver’s seat, had been orbiting the Sun ever since.

However, the Minor Planet Center (MPC), the agency responsible for cataloging asteroids, quickly retracted the classification after determining that the object was actually Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster, which was sent into space aboard SpaceX’s inaugural Falcon Heavy flight.

Musk launched his personal Tesla Roadster into space on February 6, 2018, as a test payload for the Falcon Heavy rocket.