The Center for Small Objects in the Solar System announced that the Earth has had a second moon in the last three years. It is not as impressive as our old moon, and its light is extremely faint. It is estimated that its diameter ranges from one to six meters, and it will not stay with us for long
By David Rothery, Professor of Planetary Geography, UK Open University
The Center for Small Objects in the Solar System announced that the Earth has had a second moon in the last three years. It is not as impressive as our old moon, and its light is extremely faint. It is estimated that its diameter ranges from one to six meters, and it will not stay with us for long.
The object was first spotted by American astronomers Theodore Fruina and Kaxper Wierchus using the 1.52-meter (60-inch) telescope at the Mount Lemon Observatory near Tucson, Arizona on February 15.
Subsequent observations made it possible to calculate its orbit, and at 22:53 Universal Time (UT) on February 25, the center announced the discovery, and the small moon was named CD₃ 2020.
The object 2020 CD₃ is actually just a tiny member of a class of asteroids whose orbits cross the Earth's orbit. Sometimes they come close to Earth or collide with it, but in this case, a collision would not cause any disaster because CD₃ 2020 is so small that it would break up in the atmosphere before it had enough time to reach the ground.
Instead of colliding with the Earth, CD₃ 2020 enters an orbit around it, the distance of which is slightly greater than the distance to the fixed moon.
These rocks reach, several times the earth and continue on their way. 2020 CD₃ is probably in its final loop before being released. One study states that statistically, at any given moment, the Earth will have a temporary mini-moon over a meter in diameter that will orbit the Earth at least once before moving on.
None of these moon species remain in orbit around Earth for long, as the pull of the Moon and Sun make their orbits unstable. Once captured, they usually orbit the Earth for no more than a few years before breaking free to return to an independent orbit around the Sun.
It's hard to predict
Once such a mini-moon is discovered, it is impossible to accurately predict its orbit because these small bodies are pushed by solar radiation, and we do not know enough about their size, shape, and ability to reflect light to calculate the resulting effect. Another previously orbiting object called 2006 RH₁2₀ orbited Earth four times between September 2006 and June 2007 before continuing on its way. At this point it has already passed to the far side of the Sun, but will pass close to Earth again in 2028.
Other "moons" of this type are asteroids whose average orbital period around the sun is exactly one year. So even though they seem to have a connection with the Earth, they actually just orbit the Sun together with the Earth, but independently.
These objects are called quasi-satellites. One of them, 1991 VG, circled Earth at least once in 1992, and may do so again in the future.
So while 2020 CD₃ is an interesting new discovery, don't expect a catastrophic crash or extra moonlight for tonight's trip. Nevertheless, at least for a while, our main moon has a very tiny cousin.
For an article in The Conversation
More of the topic in Hayadan:
- Astronomers will search the tauroid swarm for bodies the size of the asteroid that crashed into Tongska
- NASA is making progress in developing a spacecraft to divert asteroids from their orbits
- Watch the video: An asteroid passed close to Earth; NASA is increasing the search for asteroids that threaten humanity
10 תגובות
Hahaha NASA drawings The earth is flat and level The sea level can only be in a flat earth The land is not in motion because in a land in motion you would never be able to hit targets or land planes The sun and the stars move around us and the sky closes in on us There is no going out and no coming
Space and billiard balls spinning in space only exist in NASA studios
The water overthrows the entire false centrocentric model of the Greek idol worshipers and at the beginning of the 20th century, based on this, a priest devised the contemporary model that the Freemasons market to anyone
Whenever you are thirsty, go to the water...
Hah water that has a boundary always the surface of the water will be level (a basic law of nature) 72% of the earth is water so do yourself a favor and stop making fun of yourself the Helios model (the god of the sun in the Ion culture of the idolaters) centric (center) does not meet the requirements of the laws of nature
Eli Isaac
Leave you in your life, we are all a collection of maggots that will eventually disperse, each to his own way...
Come on, peace be upon Israel. Talk to Israel Shapira, he has a lot of insights.
Eli Isaac
There are no "proofs" in science, there is only evidence. The evidence is astronomical observations made in several places. We have tools to measure both the distance to distant bodies and their speed.
Space has no boundaries. There is a limit to how far we can see.
And of course there is no center to space. Anywhere in space, even tens of billions of light years away, you will see the same thing - you will see yourself "in the center" and galaxies moving away from you, in an accelerated manner.
No - we don't stretch. Dark energy exists where there is no mass. Galaxies close to us are actually approaching and in the distant future will collide with our galaxy.
Therefore - the experiment you propose (which has been done for years over long distances) will not reveal any expansion.
Thanks Nissim.
Here below I propose a simple experiment that may disprove the theory of the expansion of space.
First of all, I understand that in my simple experiment with the injector that I mentioned here, the air around us pressed hard on the piston of the injector. i can get it
Now, regarding the acceleration of galaxies, is the expansion of space just a theory or have they managed to prove it? (Is this something related to the equations in Einstein's theory of relativity?)
Let's say that space itself is expanding and there is dark energy that causes it, so this energy has to go and increase over time to cause acceleration. Right?
It is also interesting, does this energy stretch the space to it from the borders of space (like a sheet is stretched from its edges) or does it push the galaxies from some central point in space (the center of the sphere) towards the borders of space.
One more thing, if the space itself is stretched like chewing gum, then does that mean that we are also expanding together with the space?
Maybe we can measure it with a simple experiment:
We will check with the help of a laser beam how long it takes to get from the beginning of a certain object to the end. After a year we will check again and we should find out that it took this time
The laser beam has more time. But I highly doubt that will happen! Isn't that misleading?
the expansion of space?
Eli Isaac
Private tutor for computers, math and English - online
https://eisaak123.wixsite.com/privatelessons
Eli Isaac
Indeed, the air presses in all directions to an (almost) equal extent.
The moving away of the galaxies is a result of the expansion of space, as strange as it sounds.
The acceleration is the result of something we don't understand that much, something called "dark energy".
Thank you Ilan for the nice response.
I remember that indeed the atmosphere presses down with all the weight of its gases.
But that still doesn't explain to me the second simple experiment I mentioned.
The plunger of the syringe was pushed with great force into the void in the syringe. This also happened when I held the syringe upside down. Did the atmosphere pressurize the injector piston to move up in the reverse injector? Is the answer that the atmosphere presses equally from all directions?
Regarding the moon, you are talking about the zenrophagal force created due to the rotation of the moon
And the force of gravity is the force of attraction of any body with mass on another body (the theory I read talks about a mass that causes the distortion of the space near it).
But, what about all the galaxies that are moving away from each other at an increasing speed (you can see this using the Doppler effect of light)?
Maybe the void is causing them to drift apart like that? Sounds more logical to me than talking about the big bang (since they speed up and not slow down) and some kind of dark force.
Eli Isaac
https://eisaak123.wixsite.com/privatelessons
Hello Eli, the answer to your question,
1) The water in the bowl is constantly subject to the pressure of the atmosphere, wherever the syringe does not touch, the atmosphere presses with a force of 1 kg per square centimeter, but in your syringe there is no pressure at all, therefore the water that comes into contact with it rises to the point that the force acting on it is not balanced, it pushes them from the bowl into the syringe.
2) The (relative) void in space does not attract the moon or any other body, in fact it is not felt at all on the moon, the moon itself is constantly in constant motion, its rotational speed keeps it in motion, and the force of gravity rotates the motion towards the earth, so that it is all Time "falls" towards the earth.
Just as the path of a stone you throw takes the form of a parabola, so does the path of the moon, but its path is an ellipse because it changes its position in relation to the earth, and therefore the direction of the force pulling it changes all the time.
Hope I explained simply.
The next question is related to the essence of space and the void within it.
I'll start with a simple experiment I did.
Recently I did simple experiments with the children.
For example, I pumped water with a syringe from a bowl.
I have carefully observed this simple process and I cannot explain it. I would appreciate a scientific explanation.
What does it matter to the water that is created empty in the syringe? What does it matter to the water that there is almost no substance in it? What force pulls the water to rise to a place where there is less matter?
It didn't happen in my experiment with just the water.
I closed the small opening at the end of the syringe with my finger and pulled the plunger of the syringe back. When I released then the piston jerked back with force! What does the piston care that the air pressure in the injector has dropped?
In the context of space, does the void in space attract the stars with great force?
Does the vacuum pull the moon away from the earth (lots of matter)?
Eli Isaac
https://eisaak123.wixsite.com/privatelessons
This mini-moon should be brought down to earth and displayed in some museum (with some interesting caption that tells about its long trajectory and its origin in deep space). Everyone is talking about the fact that tomorrow we are going to start mining minerals and metals from asteroids, so that shouldn't be a problem right?
It's time to define what a moon is, so that not every stupid rock that ends up in orbit around a planet gets the honorable title.