Earth Has Captured a Second Moon, Says NASA

originally posted by: rickymouse
I read about this before. I also read about some sort of dense asteroid that has a horseshoe orbit with the earth. It goes the same way earth goes then comes close to earth and reverses it's orbit and goes the other way making a sort of horseshoe shape

That's Cruithne. Very weird solar orbit that's in resonance with the Earth's orbit.

-dex

originally posted by: DexterRiley

originally posted by: rickymouse
I read about this before. I also read about some sort of dense asteroid that has a horseshoe orbit with the earth. It goes the same way earth goes then comes close to earth and reverses it's orbit and goes the other way making a sort of horseshoe shape

That's Cruithne. Very weird solar orbit that's in resonance with the Earth's orbit.

-dex

I read a crazy sci fi book about Cruithne a while ago, can't remember the author or title but it was pretty intense.
From what little I recall NASA discovers a weird signal coming from Cruithne that turns out to be a time portal (one character ends up skipping to the end of time and beyond, witnessing several big bangs and new universes forming).
It had a squid that was genetically modified for greater intelligence(can't recall why)but it ends up pregnant and gets loose on Cruithne, where over millennia its offspring evolve and eventually flies a spaceship to the asteroid belt???
I told you it was strange!!! Lol(And that's just scratching the surface).
I remember it was very heavy going intellectually and enjoying it but was glad when it finished and highly doubt I'd read it again.

originally posted by: snowspirit

The quasi-satellite was given the label of asteroid 2016 HO3, though surely it ought to be in line for a more charismatic title sometime soon. Scientists also assure that the space rock is no threat to our planet or to our main squeeze, the moon.

If this little moon sticks around, it's definitely going to need a name...

Dingle Berry

originally posted by: rickymouse
I read about this before. I also read about some sort of dense asteroid that has a horseshoe orbit with the earth. It goes the same way earth goes then comes close to earth and reverses it's orbit and goes the other way making a sort of horseshoe shape

The horseshoe orbit is just an illusion, a path projected from the Earth's point of view. That asteroid, Cruithne, and same as the one this thread is about, is in orbit around the Sun. It's simply locked into an orbital resonance with Earth, due to Earth's gravity. That's quite different from how our Moon orbits Earth.

Hence the term quasi-satellite.

This asteroid is beyond the Earth's Hill sphere, that is, beyond the distance where Earth's gravity is sufficient to keep a satellite.

originally posted by: DexterRiley

originally posted by: rickymouse
I read about this before. I also read about some sort of dense asteroid that has a horseshoe orbit with the earth. It goes the same way earth goes then comes close to earth and reverses it's orbit and goes the other way making a sort of horseshoe shape

That's Cruithne. Very weird solar orbit that's in resonance with the Earth's orbit.

-dex

I did read about that one but did not understand it's orbit. The one I am talking about is one of these. en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: Meldionne1

About the size of the Death star.u

originally posted by: rickymouse

originally posted by: DexterRiley

originally posted by: rickymouse
I read about this before. I also read about some sort of dense asteroid that has a horseshoe orbit with the earth. It goes the same way earth goes then comes close to earth and reverses it's orbit and goes the other way making a sort of horseshoe shape

That's Cruithne. Very weird solar orbit that's in resonance with the Earth's orbit.

-dex

I did read about that one but did not understand it's orbit. The one I am talking about is one of these. en.wikipedia.org...

I completely understand what you are saying. It was tough for me to get my head around it too. I was looking for the animation that I found a couple of years ago, but I can't find it. This phys.org article provides some good information. There's a YouTube video linked there that provides an interesting view.


-dex

a reply to: snowspirit

Its name is chip. But it also goes by atom.

originally posted by: rickymouse

originally posted by: DexterRiley

originally posted by: rickymouse
I read about this before. I also read about some sort of dense asteroid that has a horseshoe orbit with the earth. It goes the same way earth goes then comes close to earth and reverses it's orbit and goes the other way making a sort of horseshoe shape

That's Cruithne. Very weird solar orbit that's in resonance with the Earth's orbit.

-dex

I did read about that one but did not understand it's orbit. The one I am talking about is one of these. en.wikipedia.org...

They all have this kind of orbit. Like I said, it only looks like horseshoe from Earth's point of view. These asteroids orbit the Sun while locked into a 1:1 orbital resonance with Earth. They lag behind for a while, then catch up, then lag behind again.


www.youtube.com...

Its been here a hundred years..? And I am only just hearing about this?

It's very small, and only been discovered in 2016.