02/27/2020 19:29
(Act. 27.02.2020 19:43)
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The mini moon has been in orbit for three years.
© APA
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It remained undiscovered for three years: Now astronomers have found a new satellite in orbit. A so-called mini moon.
The discovered moon is, however, much smaller than the moon that we know and has the name 2002 CD3.
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Mini moon is an asteroid
The diameter is between 1.9 and 3.5 meters. Astronomers speak of a mini moon because it is actually an asteroid that is in Earth’s orbit. The University of Arizona astronomers discovered the mini moon. Kacper Wierzchos, one of the astronomers, published the discovery on Twitter.
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BIG NEWS (thread 1/3). 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. Here are the discovery images. pic.twitter.com/zLkXyGAkZl
– Kacper Wierzchos (@WierzchosKacper) February 26, 2020
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He also referred to a simulation that shows the path of the asteroid in green lines. The simulation also shows a white circle that shows the orbit of the actual moon.
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Earth may have a new minimoon. C26FED2 may have spent the last 3 years orbiting Earth after being captured through L1. This simulation is in a rotating frame which keeps L1 and L2 stationary. Read @BadAstronomer‘s blog on minimoons. https://t.co/EqhmCf1Flhhttps://t.co/dAQHbA3skC pic.twitter.com/3NHqNKdTe3
– Tony Dunn (@ tony873004) February 16, 2020
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From the available evidence, it can be concluded that the asteroid has been in Earth orbit for three years, which is normally not the case. According to “ScienceAlert”, the asteroids either burn up in the atmosphere or only fly over part of the orbit. The science magazine also reports that the mini-moon is expected to leave Earth’s orbit in April.
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