Pseudo-moons Orbit Earth

Earth may be going steady with the Moon, but it has a bit of a wanderer’s relationship with some other nearby objects. A study by an international trio of scientists suggests that, at any given time, there is at least one meter-sized mini asteroid temporarily orbiting our planet. Caught from the population of near-Earth objects (NEOs), the “satellite” completes on average three whirls around us in less than a year before the planet and meteoroid go their separate ways.

Earth may regularly catch and release nearby meteoroids as temporary satellites.

IAU

The results, to appear in Icarus, are based on supercomputer simulations; no real asteroids were involved. But the conclusions match a real temporary satellite seen a few years ago, 6R10DB9 (also known as 2006 RH₁₂₀), which made a handful of orbits in 2006 and 2007 before sailing back out to circle the Sun again.

MORE: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/Pseudo-moons-Orbit-Earth-136435308.html

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
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