The 'second moon' is discovered on the earth, it is temporary to be near the earth in a mini size of 2-3 meters



The moon orbits the Earth in orbit, but it turns out that a new celestial body has been added to the moon. The second moon on Earth, discovered on February 15, 2020, is about 1.9-3.5 m in diameter, and is considered to be a temporary earth satellite because of its unstable orbit.

Earth has acquired a brand new moon that's about the size of a car | New Scientist
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2235427-earth-has-acquired-a-brand-new-moon-thats-about-the-size-of-a-car/

New 'mini-moon' orbiting Earth — for now, astronomers say
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/new-mini-moon-orbiting-earth-now-astronomers-say-n1143596

Kacper Wierzchos, a member of the Catalina Sky Survey, an observation project at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Research Institute, said on February 26, `` In the Earth's orbit, a small moon-like object '2020 CD3' Was found to be temporarily captured by the Earth, a 20- mag object discovered by me and Teddy Pruyne, my teammates on the Catalina Sky Survey, on the night of February 15. That ’s it ”on Twitter.



Wierzchos et al. Performed more than 30 observations by February 17 to confirm the existence and orbit of the 2020 CD3. Wierzchos says, '2020 CD3 is a C-type asteroid with a diameter of 1.9 to 3.5 m. Even though its size is small, this is a big discovery, because nearly one million asteroids have been discovered so far. Is the second asteroid known to orbit the Earth. '



The Catalina Sky Survey also discovered the 2006 RH120 , the 'second month' orbiting Earth in 2006 . The orbit of the previously discovered '2006 RH120' was unstable only from September 2006 to June 2007, but the orbit of '2020 CD3' was also considerable. It is unstable.

The following is the result of actually simulating the trajectory of '2020 CD3'. The 2020 CD3 was captured by the Earth about three years ago, and has been orbiting the Earth in about 47 days since then.



In April 2020, Queens University Belfast astronomer Grigori Fedorets told British science journal New Scientist, `` While we're doing this, '2020 CD3' is moving away from Earth. '' Also pointed out that there is a possibility that the satellite may escape from orbit of the earth.

in Science, Posted by log1l_ks