[quote]
(CNN)A small asteroid has been found circling Earth as the two objects orbit the sun together.
Scientists say it looks like the asteroid -- called 2016 HO3 -- has been out there for about 50 years and isn't going away anytime soon.
"Our calculations indicate 2016 HO3 has been a stable quasi-satellite of Earth for almost a century, and it will continue to follow this pattern as Earth's companion for centuries to come," said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.
[/Quote]
[url]http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/16/us/nasa-asteroid-circles-earth/[/url]
Guess this means that Earth technically has 2 moons, how interesting.
[QUOTE=Toro;50540687][url]http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/16/us/nasa-asteroid-circles-earth/[/url]
Guess this means that Earth technically has 2 moons, how interesting.[/QUOTE]
Its no moon its a space station!
I always assumed there were a few asteroids that orbited the earth.
Is it really just one?
[editline]boop[/editline]
[quote]some scientists think there could be other "mini-moons" orbiting the Earth -- some permanent and some temporary.
In 2012, researchers using a super computer concluded "that at any given time there should be at least one asteroid with a diameter of at least one meter orbiting Earth."[/quote]
Phew, I'm not going crazy.
Well would you look at that
[editline]17th June 2016[/editline]
Space race to land on the second moon when
How was this not noticed until now?
[QUOTE=Erfly;50540709]I always assumed there were a few asteroids that orbited the earth.
Is it really just one?[/QUOTE]
There are a few asteroids that have orbital paths around the Sun very close and similar to Earth's, but aren't actually gravitationally bound to it. Occasionally they interact with the Earth or the Moon and act like moons for a brief period before going back into solar orbit. This one's doing that, but has been doing it for much longer than most.
[editline]17th June 2016[/editline]
[QUOTE=DJ999;50540717]How was this not noticed until now?[/QUOTE]
Asteroids are small and don't emit any light - and aren't always very reflective. Given how huge it's orbital distance is from Earth, it's no surprise it took a long time to detect given that we weren't exactly looking for it.
[QUOTE=DJ999;50540717]How was this not noticed until now?[/QUOTE]
Presumably because it's really really small and is much further away from earth than the Moon.
Would be cool if we could attempt asteroid mining but 14 million kilometers is an awfully long distance.
Sounds like the perfect target for asteroid mining.
[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;50540745]Sounds like the perfect target for asteroid mining.[/QUOTE]
How so? We don't even know if the materials of the asteroid are worth mining, nor the means to mine it.
[QUOTE=Toro;50540687][url]http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/16/us/nasa-asteroid-circles-earth/[/url]
Guess this means that Earth technically has 2 moons, how interesting.[/QUOTE]
Actually the earth has a lot of 'moons' it's just a lot of them are no larger than your standard unit of astronomical measurement: VW Bugs
[editline]17th June 2016[/editline]
[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;50540745]Sounds like the perfect target for asteroid mining.[/QUOTE]
This thing is way too far out for mining
i for one welcome our new moon
[editline]18th June 2016[/editline]
and possible overlords
[QUOTE=Sableye;50540797]Actually the earth has a lot of 'moons' it's just a lot of them are no larger than your standard unit of astronomical measurement: VW Bugs
[editline]17th June 2016[/editline]
This thing is way too far out for mining[/QUOTE]
dude wtf we landed on an asteroid that was further away
[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;50540745]Sounds like the perfect target for asteroid mining.[/QUOTE]
Not really, it seems to be orbiting far away from Earth, even if it had anything useful.
+ the fact its less than 100m in diameter.
Sounds similar to '3753 Cruithne'.
[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;50540745]Sounds like the perfect target for asteroid mining.[/QUOTE]There's much better candidates than this little thing, near-earth asteroids are a dime a dozen depending on what you classify as "near-earth."
[QUOTE=Toro;50540687][url]http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/16/us/nasa-asteroid-circles-earth/[/url]
Guess this means that Earth technically has 2 moons, how interesting.[/QUOTE]
the natural satellite of the earth, visible (chiefly at night) by reflected light from the sun.
not a moon
[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;50540745]Sounds like the perfect target for asteroid mining.[/QUOTE]
And the perfect place to find an ancient evil....
[editline]17th June 2016[/editline]
[QUOTE=Source;50540707]Its no moon its a space station![/QUOTE]
Does it has men in spandex by any chance?
[QUOTE=MisterLANCE;50540887]the natural satellite of the earth, visible (chiefly at night) by reflected light from the sun.
not a moon[/QUOTE]
by that definition, what is Europa or Io or Titan? Because they're not orbiting earth, nor are they visible at night without tools, so they can't be moons, right?
[QUOTE=Toro;50540966]by that definition, what is Europa or Io or Titan? Because they're not orbiting earth, nor are they visible at night without tools, so they can't be moons, right?[/QUOTE]
This is where it starts to enter the dwarf planet territory.
It clearly isn't on the same scale as the moon, but should it still be called a moon?
[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;50540745]Sounds like the perfect target for asteroid mining.[/QUOTE]
My thoughts exactly. Land on it, then mine it for great justice, maybe as a staging ground/proof of concept for ships and machines designed to mine the Belt.
[QUOTE=Toro;50540966]by that definition, what is Europa or Io or Titan? Because they're not orbiting earth, nor are they visible at night without tools, so they can't be moons, right?[/QUOTE]
a natural satellite?
[QUOTE=ironman17;50541045]My thoughts exactly. Land on it, then mine it for great justice, maybe as a staging ground/proof of concept for ships and machines designed to mine the Belt.[/QUOTE]
Can you please explain as to how you came to this conclusion just because there is a near by asteroid?
[quote]Scientists think the asteroid is between 120 and 300 feet (37 to 91 meters) in diameter.[/quote]
How the fuck are you going to build anything on this? What are you going to mine? If you do mine anything how are you not going to completely throw the asteroid out of orbit if not destroy it completely?
[QUOTE=JohnFisher89;50541102]Can you please explain as to how you came to this conclusion just because there is a near by asteroid?
How the fuck are you going to build anything on this? What are you going to mine? If you do mine anything how are you not going to completely throw the asteroid out of orbit if not destroy it completely?[/QUOTE]
That's why it's such a good staging ground! It'll require almost-impossible levels of precision!
Well remember that idea nasa had to catch an asteroid to pull into earth orbit?
This sounds like the perfect test rock for that project.
I guess this is good news. Should be a fairly easy candidate to capture for that experiment where they wanted to put an asteroid in orbit around the Earth so they could study it more closely.
What a funny coincidence that its been orbiting for about 50 years and we landed on the moon almost 50 years ago (47 in July)
[QUOTE=Bradyns;50540811]Sounds similar to '3753 Cruithne'.[/QUOTE]
Correct. This is not actually a moon as it does not orbit the Earth directly.
Instead, it has a 1:1 resonance with the Earth. It just so happens that this resonance makes it appear to "orbit" because of where it is positioned, but it is not in fact in a place where the Earth's hill sphere has full control. This makes it similar to how Earth has a 1:1 trojan as well called 2010 TK7 in the L4 Lagrangian point
For those that do not know, here is the orbit of Cruithne:
[T]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Horseshoe_orbit_of_Cruithne_from_the_perspective_of_Earth.gif[/T][T]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Orbits_of_Cruithne_and_Earth.gif[/T]
The orbit of the newly discovered quasi-satellite is as follows; it is too distant from the Earth to actually be in the Earth's control, so the act of orbiting it is an illusion:
[T]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Asteroid-2016HO3-20160427.jpg[/T]
The new object is not a moon, even a temporary one, so considering it such would be an extreme hyperbole. It is, however, an object of interest since we seek to learn more about objects that resonate with the Earth. This is similar to how Neptune:Pluto is 2:3, due to Neptune's influence on Kuiper Belt objects. Even disregarding that, it is but a temporary quasi-satellite albeit currently stable, this is akin to how we had a temporary second moon for a few months earlier this century (2006 RH120, which will be recaptured by the Earth in a few decades and will give some fascinating info on our hill sphere when this occurs).
An example of another quasi-satellite that gives the illusion of "orbiting it's planet", also showing why this is not actually a true moon, is 2002 VE68, an object with a 1:1 resonance with Venus that also crosses the orbits of Mercury (white, spirographesque design, because that's how non-circular Mercury's orbit is) and Earth (blue and white). Venus is represented by the non-moving white egg shape and 2002 VE68's orbit is in pink.
[T]http://orbitsimulator.com/gravity/images/2002ve68Venus.GIF[/T]
Title is misleading.
[QUOTE=TheDrunkenOne;50540801]dude wtf we landed on an asteroid that was further away[/QUOTE]Landing on it is one thing; landing on it, mining it, then transporting those minerals back to Earth is another matter. Unless the asteroid turns out to be a source of Unobtanium, there's not going to be anything on it that makes mining it there cheaper than terrestrial mining operations. Could be an interesting proof of concept experiment, perhaps.
[QUOTE=DeEz;50543590]Title is misleading.[/QUOTE]
Slight paraphrase of CNN's title - blame CNN for their ineptitude. :goodjob:
[QUOTE=TheDrunkenOne;50540801]
dude wtf we landed on an asteroid that was further away[/QUOTE]
you europeans landed a washingmachine on a very big asteroid. this has an even smaller fraction of gravity and is in an orbit thats difficult to reach let alone mine and return from
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