Earth has 'Second Moon'

Over the past 4 billion years, the Moon orbits the Earth. However, recently, the human planetary satellite was not alone. Appear mysterious object, which acts as a 'second Moon'. What is it? Turns out it is Asteroid 2014 OL339.

Scientists hope to one day 'catch' a quasi-satellite which could offer a valuable sample of material largely unchanged since the dawn of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Pictured is an artists's impression of Earth rising above lunar horizon. (Picture from: http://dailym.ai/1siCkWy)

A 150-meter wide space rock that takes about a year to orbit the sun. The distance to the Earth close enough so it looks as satellites. The asteroid is the latest quasi-satellite Earth - space rocks that orbit the Sun but close enough to the human planet so it looks like its followers.

A new object, dubbed 2014 OL339, has been found masquerading as Earth’s ‘second moon’.The new ‘moon’, which is in fact a 490ft (150 metre) asteroid, takes about a year to orbit the sun and is close enough to Earth to look like its satellite. Pictured is its elliptical orbit. (Picture from: http://dailym.ai/1siCkWy)

As quoted by the Daily Mail on Friday, October 3, 2014, a strange object was discovered on July 29, 2014 by Farid Char, an astronomers of the Chilean University of Antofagasta. "The asteroid near Earth hanging around 775 years. The space rock will continue to do so for the next 165 years," said Carlos dam Raul de la Fuente Marcos from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, as reported by the science site, Newscientist.

The asteroid has an elliptical orbit. It takes 364.92 days to circle the sun. That means 2014 OL339 and Earth are in a 'resonant orbits'. The condition occurs when two objects orbiting gravitational influence each other because their orbits are closely related.

For example, Pluto and Neptune are in 2:3 orbital resonance. That is, every 2 times Pluto around the Sun, Neptune took 3 trips around the star.

Asteroid 2014 OL339 orbiting the Sun in the same period with the Earth. However, our planet's gravity affects the movement. As an adult pushing a child on a swing. Viewed using sophisticated telescopes from Earth, 2014 OL339 looks as if orbiting around our planet, relative moving backward to the stars.

A number of other space rock ever go into orbit that makes them look as if circling the Earth. As with 2014 OL339, some of them takes about 1 year to go around the sun, in an elliptical orbit. Similarly, according to Phil Plait, who writes on the Bad Astronomy blog.

A number of other space rocks have fallen into orbits that make them look as though they are circling the Earth. The most famous is 3753 Cruithne, a 3 miles (5km) asteroid (animations shown above). The yellow orbit in the top animation shows Cruithne's orbit around Earth. (Picture from: http://dailym.ai/1siCkWy)

The most famous is the 3753 Cruithne, along the 5 kilometer asteroid discovered in 1986 - and in 1997, the scientists uncover the unusual route.

Our planet also has a number of 'minimoon' which is actually the small asteroids that sucked by the gravitational of the Earth and end up orbiting to our planet, although in a shorter time period. In a few months to a year.

The scientists hope to one day be able to 'catch' the quasi-satellite that may contain valuable samples, a material which is largely unchanged since the beginning of the birth of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago. In 2012, a team led by the University of Hawaii at Manoa counted possibility that at certain times the Earth has more than one moon or satellites.

Our planet has also had a number of ‘minimoons'. These space rocks are often only a few feet across, and each tends to do a stint of around a year in orbit - before resuming their previous lives as asteroids. (Picture from: http://dailym.ai/1siCkWy)

They used a supercomputer to simulate the trajectories of 10 million asteroids that pass through the Earth. Conclusions they produce, at any given moment, at least one asteroid with a diameter of at least one meter orbiting to the Earth. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | DAILYMAIL]

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