The answer to the seemingly simple question of how many satellites there are on Earth is more complicated than expected. Although it is the most well-known and easily recognizable object that is held by the Earth’s gravity, the Moon is not the only solid and permanent object. Besides the Moon, the Earth also has a number of near-Earth objects and dust clouds. These include minimoon, half-moon, and crescent moon, which could theoretically be considered moons.
About 4.4 billion years ago, a Mars-sized orbiting planet called Theia collided with Earth. Huge chunks of planetary crust were thrown into space and formed the Earth’s moon. The moon is the only fixed and permanent moon that orbits the earth. However, Earth’s gravity has also pulled a number of short-lived moons over time.
The first known long-term capture of an asteroid from Earth’s orbit was 2006 RH120 was in 2006. Cosmic pebbles such as 2020 CD3 and 2020 SO have previously served as short-lived moons. the European Space Agency Gaia space telescope It was mistaken by scientists in 2015 for a new temporary satellite orbiting the Earth for 13 hours. But as it turned out, scientists quickly realized their mistake. This led to the withdrawal of the International Astronomical Union’s Asteroid Centre.
Permanent moons and quasi-satellites such as the asteroid 3753 Cruithne exist in Earth’s orbit. They orbit the sun like the Earth and stay with the Earth during their 365 day orbit. Camooalewa, a quasi-satellite that orbits the Earth in a corkscrew-like pattern, is powered primarily by the sun’s gravity.
Some asteroids are given the name “Moon” because they are pulled by the specific gravitational field of the Sun-Earth or Earth-Moon system. Fixed gravitational locations in space known as Lagrangian points are anchors for these Trojan horse objects.
The captured object is aligned with the Earth and becomes part of an orbit around the Sun in an equilateral triangle formed by the Earth and two Lagrange points, L4 and L5. Clouds of dust, commonly referred to as ghost moons or Kordylewski clouds, also accumulate at these Lagrangian locations. But they could never produce a more substantial moon.
The Earth is stationary, but the perpetual moon is best known. It is important to remember that there are actually other moons orbiting the planet. Technically, many objects caught in the Earth’s gravity can be classified as satellites. They range from transit moons to quasi-satellites and ghost moons. But the moon will always hold a special place in our hearts. This is because it is the most prominent and recognizable of Earth’s natural satellites.
