“New Quasi-Moon Discovered: Earth’s Cosmic Companion to Orbit for at Least 1,500 Years”

A new study reveals that Earth has a new moon – or at least a half moon.

Quasi-moons are space rocks that orbit the Earth, but are gravitationally bound to the Sun.

This quasar, named 2023 FW13, was discovered by experts using the Pan-STARRS telescope at the top of the Haleakala volcano in Hawaii, and is one of the few known quasars.

Experts believe that the ancient cosmic companion has been circling Earth since 100 BC and will continue to orbit our planet for at least another 1,500 years, until 3,700 AD.

Fortunately, 2023 FW13 or a similar quasi-moon called 469219 Kamoʻoalewa is not believed to pose a danger to humans on Earth.

Quasi-moons, also known as “quasi-satellite”, are often seen orbiting our planet like natural satellites (known as “Luna”).

But they are given the prefix “semi” because they are gravitationally bound to the Sun rather than Earth, and not the other way around as is the case with Luna.

FW13 2023 differs from our Moon in that it orbits far beyond Earth’s “ridge sphere,” the region around planetary bodies where gravity is the dominant force pulling the satellite.

The radius of Earth’s mound ball is 932,000 miles (1.5 million km), while 2023 FW13’s radius is slightly larger — about 1.6 million miles.

“The dimensions of the ring — about 0.18 astronomical units in radius — are so large that the Earth doesn’t play a fundamental role in its motion,” said Alan Harris, senior research fellow at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. Sky and telescope.

“[2023 FW13 is] It is completely unconnected to Earth except by chance.

FW13 2023 was first spotted on March 28 by PanSTARRS before its presence was confirmed by several other telescopes.

Once confirmed, it is FW13 2023 including by the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

Although the size of 2023 FW13 is uncertain, asteroid specialist Richard Penzel estimates its diameter to be between 30 and 50 feet (10 to 15 meters).

This is only a fraction of the diameter of our Moon, which is 2,159 miles (although the Moon is classified as such because of the characteristics of its orbit rather than its size).

2023 FW13’s orbit around the Sun takes about the same time as Earth’s – 365.42 days (1.0005 Earth years).

As it circles the Earth in its orbital journey, it extends so much that it reaches halfway to Mars and reaches halfway to Venus.

Earth has Many famous cosmic companionsMany of them are pseudo-satellites, although FW13 2023 indicates that many more may be found.

Quasi-satellites tend to follow a “steady” trajectory around Earth for more than a few decades before eventually leaving planetary orbit.

FW13 2023 is special in that it will be in the same state for centuries and will remain so “for centuries to come.” Amateur astronomer Tony Dunn.

That Online simulation Created by Dunn showing the orbit of 2023 FW13 in relation to the Moon, Sun and other planets in the Solar System.

Another popular pseudo-satellite known as 469219 Kamoʻoalewa or 2016 HO3 was discovered by PanSTARRS in April 2016.

469219 Kamoʻoalewa, which is 330 feet in diameter, will remain in this orbit for about 300 years, according to Renu Malhotra, an expert at the University of Arizona.

Malhotra authored a recent study which found that 469,219 Kamoʻoalewa could be an ancient part of our Moon.

Analysis of the light reflected from the space rock shows that it is made of the same materials as minerals found in moon rocks from NASA’s Apollo missions.