A mysterious object that had astronomers scratching their heads has been identified as an old rocket, according to a NASA expert.

The object, which was first spotted by the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona on February 25, was initially thought to be an asteroid. However, further observations by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) revealed that the object was actually a discarded rocket booster from a 1966 mission.

The object, known as WE0913A, was initially classified as a near-Earth object (NEO), meaning it came within 48 million kilometers of our planet. However, JPL's observations showed that the object was not on a trajectory to impact Earth.

The object has since been removed from the NEO list and is now classified as a piece of space debris.

"This is a reminder that there is a lot of debris orbiting our planet," said Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at JPL. "Most of this debris is small, but some pieces can be quite large."

In 2019, a Chinese rocket booster re-entered Earth's atmosphere and crashed into the Indian Ocean. The booster was about 10 meters long and weighed several tonnes.

Space debris is a growing problem as the number of satellites and rockets being launched into orbit increases. There are currently an estimated 29,000 pieces of debris larger than 10 centimeters orbiting Earth.

Space debris can pose a risk to satellites and astronauts, and it can also interfere with scientific observations.

NASA is working on several ways to reduce the amount of space debris, including developing new technologies to track and remove debris.