(ORDO NEWS) — The question of how many satellites the Earth has turned out to be more complicated than it was thought a century ago.
Only one satellite of our planet – the Moon – can be seen in the sky with the naked eye. However, it is not the only one of natural origin.
For many centuries, astronomers of the world believed that the Moon is the only natural satellite of the Earth, and relatively recently scientists debunked this myth.
In fact, the Moon that we can observe in the night sky is not the only one in this regard. It turns out that in the past and even now there are many more satellites orbiting the Earth than most people realize.
According to scientists, the only permanent natural satellite of the Earth is really the Moon.
But the planet’s gravity often captures near-Earth asteroids and dust clouds, which turn into temporary satellites of our planet. Therefore, the statement that the Moon is the only satellite of the Earth is not entirely true.
It is generally accepted that at the initial stage of the Earth’s existence – approximately 4.5 billion years ago – our planet did not have a natural satellite at all. 4.4 billion years before today, a protoplanet the size of Mars called Theia crashed into our planet.
As a result of the impact, huge pieces of the Earth’s crust flew into space.
According to a 2022 study, these rocky fragments coalesced and soon formed the Moon.
Modern astronomers believe that sometimes the Earth has temporary satellites that are picked up by the planet’s gravity. But they orbited the Earth for a short time before flying further into space.
For example, from 2017 to 2020, the second satellite of our planet was the 3.5-meter-wide asteroid 2020 CD3, and since 2006, a natural satellite orbited the Earth for a year and a half – the 6-meter-wide asteroid 2006 RH120.
In addition, the so-called quasi-satellites revolve around the Earth. These objects revolve around the Sun in such a similar orbit as the Earth that they seem to be constantly revolving around the planet.
Satellites of the Earth, according to NASA scientists, are also some space objects that fall into the unique gravity of the Sun-Earth or Earth-Moon systems.
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