Earth’s second moon is real, and NASA has just stated it.
The relationship between Earth and the Moon has always been the subject of study, even when we did not know what that study was.
I say Luna in capitals because we Earthlings only have one, or at least we have never seen another, right? However, a new discovery reveals that this relationship is not as monogamous as it is created, and that Earth actually has two natural satellites.
This is the second moon on Earth
This was announced today by NASA, which has confirmed a study that analyzed the behavior of a possible satellite, called 2016 HO3. Okay, so it’s not as easy to say as moon, but it sure will become very famous from now on.
2016 HO3 is actually more a mini-moon, a quasi-satellite than a large celestial body like the Moon with capital letters; basically it’s an asteroid that is between 36.5 and 91 meters longAnd if we don’t know much about him, it’s because he hasn’t been with us in space for a long time, just a century, very little time in galactic terms.
2016 HO3 was first discovered on April 27 by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii; This telescope is normally dedicated to analyzing objects that can pass close to Earth to classify them as possible threats, but the route that 2016 HO3 followed was more special than that.
Having studied its trajectory, scientists discovered that 2016 HO3 was not passing through like other asteroids, but had been trapped by Earth’s gravity. A little weird orbit and a dancer, but an orbit after all.
Here you will see nothing of the elegance of the orbit between Earth and Moon, 2016 HO3 orbit is very irregular, passing from top to bottom in the orbital plane of the Earth constantly, and moving away between 38 and 100 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. All due to the attraction of the Sun’s immense gravity.
In short, we have a new partner, although he is still a little nervous and we do not know if he will really stay with us or if he will finally calm down.
