March 29, 2024

Quasi moon

  • Astronomers have discovered a quasi-moon named 2023 FW13 with the help of the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii.
    • A quasi-moon is a space rock (asteroid) that orbits both the Earth and the Sun but is bound by the Sun’s gravity.
  • Experts believe that it has been orbiting Earth since 100 BC.
  • It will revolve around the earth for the next 1500 years, i.e., till AD 3700.
    • After this, it will leave the Earth’s orbit.
  • There will be no danger to the earth from this asteroid.
  • 2023 FW13 revolves around the Sun in the same amount of time that the Earth takes (365 days), plus it also revolves around the Earth.
  • Orbit
    • New Moon – 2023 FW13 orbits outside Earth’s ‘hill sphere’.
    • The ‘Hill Sphere’ of an astronomical body is such a region, where the gravitational force of the planet is the most powerful.
    • To be retained by a planet, a moon must have an orbit that lies within the planet’s Hill sphere.
    • The radius of the Earth’s ‘hill sphere’ is 1.5 million kilometers, while the radius of 2023 FW13 is larger than this, i.e., 6 million kilometers.
    • At the same time, the radius of the ‘Hill Sphere’ of our Moon is only 60 thousand kilometers.
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