They are born from the collisions between asteroids and the moon, about a year remain in our orbit and then they are attracted by the sun. But if captured they can tell us a lot of our origins.
There are spatial phenomena who always amaze. New research, directed by Robert Jedickeresearcher at the University of Hawaii, suggests that one half a dozen moon fragments they could briefly orbit the earth at any time before heading to the sun, but theirs small size and theirs speed make them difficult to identify. When objects from space they collide with the moon lift material from the surface emitting a sort of rainpart of which he manages to disperse in the space, overcoming the reduced force of lunar gravity. Occasionally, among these fragments there can be some of remarkable dimensionsbut most have a diameter of less than two meters. In the majority these bodies are captured by the force of gravity of the sun, but some of the debris can end up in orbit around the earth Before returning to orbit the sun. Although the international astronomical union does not have an official definition, research previous to that of Jedicke suggested that an object of these may have tied up at least temporarily to the earth, making at least one Revolution around our planet and finding the land-long distance at a distance of less than four times. These bodies can come from any point of the sun system but most of them come from the region of the asteroid bandbetween the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. In 2016 the space telescope Pan-Starrs-1 For the observation of asteroids in Hawaii, an object near the land of the diameter of 40-100 meters, identified as “469219 kamo’oalewa“, In orbit around the sun in synchrony with the earth. Subsequent studies revealed that it was a moon fragment Excavated between 1 and 10 million years ago by the impact that led to the formation of the Jordanian crater. At the beginning of this year, astronomers announced that a second “temporary” terrestrial satellite It seemed to have a lunar origin. Discovered last year, the object, called 2024 PT5looks more like the moon than to an asteroid. Together, these two objects suggest that our satellite could give birth to his small moons.
Mini Lune in orbit: temporary fragments and constant spare parts
So Jedicke and his colleagues decided to calculate how many Mini-Lune Lunar they could exist. Based on simulations how the particles expelled from the moon could behave, they discovered that many of the particles expelled in space could be captured at least temporarily from the earth And that about a fifth of them would probably be transformed into mini-long. It means that with a probabilistic calculation at least 6-7 lunar satellitesthey can orbit around us at the same time, but if we could count them with a regular cadence we would discover that some would be New objectsas if there was a spare between those who then flee to the sun and the new ones that are trapped by ours severity. This leads to calculating that a mini-long remains around the earth for an average of about nine months. It is true that due to their size, the small temporary moons They are difficult to identify and the problem lies in their size as in their speed. With most fragments that have a diameter between 1 and 2 meters, even the most advanced tools can have difficulty detecting them. For example, new research suggests that the body called “22020cd3” It was visible only in two of the approximately a thousand nights in which the object was located within the range of the telescope. The success of the detection is a good omen for the future observations. Once the objects have been identified, the tracking becomes easier because astronomers know where and when to look for these bodies. These “visitors” may have interesting commercial applicationssince they would require the slightest amount of fuel to reach them, says Dr. Jedicke. Instead of flying towards the asteroid range to extract minerals and other commercially desirable elements, companies may find a way to capture the transient while they briefly orbit around the earth. From a scientific perspective, the mini moons and their fellow men “They can help reveal how the solar system has formed and how it continues to evolve”says Jedicke. Understand how moon debris have been thrown from the moon during an impact can help researchers a understand and better estimate damage caused by the impacts of asteroids on earth.
