Astronomers discover new moon temporarily orbiting Earth
In an article published in The Conversation on Thursday, David Rothery, Professor of Planetary Geosciences at The Open University in Britain explained that the so-called "mini-moons" like this one come and go, and the newly found object is probably already on its final loop before breaking free.
Astronomers have discovered that a car-sized second natural satellite, commonly called a mini-moon, is temporarily orbiting Earth for the past three years. "Earth has a new temporarily captured object/possible mini-moon called 2020 CD3. On the night of Feb. 15, my Catalina Sky Survey teammate Teddy Pruyne and I found a 20th magnitude object," Kacper Wierzchos, a researcher with the Catalina Sky Survey at the University of Arizona`s Lunar and Planetary Lab, tweeted this week.
The orbit of the newly discovered object, 2020 CD3, shows that it entered Earth`s orbit some three years ago, The Minor Planet Center (MPC) of the International Astronomical Union confirmed.
"The object has a diameter between 1.9 - 3.5 metre (6.2 and 11.5 feet) assuming a C-type asteroid albedo. But it`s a big deal as out of approximately 1 million known asteroids, this is just the second asteroid known to orbit Earth (after 2006 RH120, which was also discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey)," Wierzchos said.
In its official designation, MPC had stated that orbit integrations indicate that "this object is temporarily bound to the Earth."
"No evidence of perturbations due to solar radiation pressure is seen, and no link to a known artificial object has been found. Further observations and dynamical studies are strongly encouraged," it added.
In an article published in The Conversation on Thursday, David Rothery, Professor of Planetary Geosciences at The Open University in Britain explained that the so-called "mini-moons" like this one come and go, and the newly found object is probably already on its final loop before breaking free.
These "mini-moons" do not orbit for long as gravitational pulls from the Sun and Earth`s permanent moon make their orbits unstable.
The initial approach of the newly discovered mini-moon towards the Earth suggests that it was captured into orbit at a somewhat greater distance than the Earth`s permanent moon, Rothery said.
Our permanent Moon is an average of 384,400 km away from Earth.
Watch Zee Business live TV below:
While astronomers believe that there is at least one mini-moon orbiting Earth at any given time, they often go undetected due their their relatively small size.
Until now, only one such satellite has been discovered -- a three feet wide asteroid called 2006 RH120, which orbited Earth for 18 months in 2006 and 2007.
The new mini-moon, 2020 CD3, was discovered using a 1.52-metre telescope at Mount Lemmon Observatory near Tucson, Arizona on February 15.
Get Latest Business News, Stock Market Updates and Videos; Check your tax outgo through Income Tax Calculator and save money through our Personal Finance coverage. Check Business Breaking News Live on Zee Business Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe on YouTube.
RECOMMENDED STORIES
SBI 444-day FD vs Union Bank of India 333-day FD: Know maturity amount on Rs 4 lakh and Rs 8 lakh investments for general and senior citizens
Power of Compounding: Salary Rs 25,000 per month; is it possible to create over Rs 2.60 crore corpus; understand it through calculations
New Year Pick by Anil Singhvi: This smallcap stock can offer up to 75% return in long term - Check targets
PSU Oil Stocks: Here's what brokerage suggests on these 2 largecap, 1 midcap scrips - Buy, Sell or Hold?
Power of Compounding: How many years it will take to reach Rs 2 crore corpus if your monthly SIP is Rs 3,000, Rs 4,000, or Rs 5,000
Retirement Calculator: 40 years of age, Rs 50,000 monthly expenses; what should be retirement corpus and monthly investment
04:52 PM IST