Earth has a “new partner” and will have enough time to meet her because it will accompany her for almost two thousand years until finally the celestial body yields to its gravitational attraction.
This is what is called a near-moon, called “2023 FW13”, and was discovered in orbit around the Earth, although it is gravitationally bound to the SunThe same as us.
According to specialists, the “new companion” of the Earth would not be so new, but rather it would have been with us for more than 2,000 yearsalthough until now it had not been detected.
Our planet’s new companion has been found by researchers of the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaiiatop Haleakala Volcano.
It is believed that this ancient cosmic body has been in the vicinity of our planet since 100 BC C. and what it will continue to revolve around our planet until the year AD 3,700.
However, both 2023 FW13 and its companion, 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, they pose no danger for the inhabitants of the earth.
“2023 FW13 is not associated with Earth except by chance,” said Alan Harris, a researcher at the Boulder Space Science Institute (Colorado), at Sky & Telescope.
Unlike our Moon, which is gravitationally bound to the Earth, quasi-moons are attached to the Sun. Although they appear to orbit similarly to our Moon, their orbit lies outside the Earth’s hill sphere, which is the region where the planetary body’s gravity is dominant to attract satellites.
Earth’s Hill sphere has a radius of about 1.5 million km, while the radius of the quasi-moon 2023 FW13 from Earth is considerably larger, about 2.5 million kilometers. This means that the Earth plays a negligible role in its movement.
What are near-moons?
The almost-moons they are a subcategory of asteroids close to the Earth that orbit the Sun, but remain close to our planet. Unlike our Moon, they follow elliptical orbits around the sun, similar to those of the Earth.
They are often confused with the Moon and are difficult to spot. The near-moon 2023 FW13, discovered by experts using the Pan-STARRS telescope at the Haleakala volcano in Hawaii, it is only one of the known near-moons and probably those that remain to be discovered.
Source: Computers Today
Source: Clarin
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