Earth’s ‘quasi-moon’ is wayward asteroid

28 March 04

The Earth has only one true Moon, but astronomers have found that we also have a “quasi-moon” – a travelling companion through space that is circling the Earth while actually orbiting the Sun.

The object, the only quasi-moon discovered so far, is an asteroid called 2003 YN107 which circles the Sun in an orbit almost identical to Earth’s, but follows a corkscrew path that from time to time means that it appears to orbit Earth.

New Scientist

Earth’s natural satellite, the moon, affects Earth like the tides. What effect can this “quasi-moon” will have on Earth?

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