Earth has another Moon/ "Quasi-Satellite."

www.msn.com...

Turns out the moon isn't the only object hanging around Earth.

Scientists discovered an asteroid named 2016 HO3 that sticks so close to Earth as it orbits the sun that astronomers have labeled it a "quasi-satellite."

"Our calculations indicate 2016 HO3 has been a stable quasi-satellite of Earth for almost a century, and it will continue to follow this pattern as Earth's companion for centuries to come," Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, said in a statement.

Astronomers estimate the asteroid is between 130 feet and 330 feet wide. Earth's gravity keeps it chained to the planet: It never comes closer than 9 million miles, but never strays farther than 24 million miles.

www.yahoo.com...

It seems apparent our planet earth has more then of object orbiting it and here is an example of that orbit....

www.youtube.com...

a reply to: Kashai

The object is not orbiting Earth, it is orbiting the Sun with an orbit very similar to that of Earth.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: Phage


You say potato and I say Potato.

Quasi-satellites and Trojans

The orbits of Earth and the quasi-satellite Cruithne


When observed from Earth, Cruithne appears to orbit a point beside it.

Although no other moons of Earth have been found to date, there are various types of near-Earth objects in 1:1 resonance with it, which are known as quasi-satellites. Quasi-satellites orbit the Sun from the same distance as a planet, rather than the planet itself. Their orbits are unstable, and will fall into other resonances or be kicked into other orbits over thousands of years.[3] Quasi-satellites of Earth include 2010 SO16, (164207) 2004 GU9,[22] (277810) 2006 FV35,[23] 2002 AA29,[24] 2014 OL339, 2013 LX28, 2016 HO3 and 3753 Cruithne. Cruithne, discovered in 1986, orbits the Sun in an elliptical orbit but appears to have a horseshoe orbit when viewed from Earth.[3][25] Some went as far to nickname Cruithne "Earth's second moon".[25]

The key difference between a satellite and a quasi-satellite is that the orbit of a satellite of Earth fundamentally depends on the gravity of the Earth–Moon system, whereas the orbit of a quasi-satellite would negligibly change if Earth and the Moon were suddenly removed because a quasi-satellite is orbiting the Sun on an Earth-like orbit in the vicinity of Earth.[26]

Earth possesses one known trojan, a small Solar System body caught in the planet's gravitationally stable L4 Lagrangian point. This object, 2010 TK7 is roughly 300 metres across. Like quasi-satellites, it orbits the Sun in a 1:1 resonance with Earth, rather than Earth itself.

en.wikipedia.org...

One has to consider the extent these objects have upon earths wobble and actually that is rather important.

New research concludes that the known wobbles in Earth's rotation caused global ice levels to reach their peak about 26,000 years ago, stabilize for 7,000 years and then begin melting 19,000 years ago, eventually bringing to an end the last ice age.

www.sciencedaily.com...

a reply to: Kashai

One has to consider the extent these objects have upon earths wobble and actually that is rather important.

This object is too small and too distant to have any effect on Earth's wobble.

a reply to: Phage

Chandler wobble


The Chandler wobble or variation of latitude is a small deviation in the Earth's axis of rotation relative to the solid earth,[1] which was discovered by American astronomer Seth Carlo Chandler in 1891. It amounts to change of about 9 metres (30 ft) in the point at which the axis intersects the Earth's surface and has a period of 433 days.[2][3] This wobble, which is a nutation, combines with another wobble with a period of one year, so that the total polar motion varies with a period of about 7 years.

The Chandler wobble is an example of the kind of motion that can occur for a spinning object that is not a sphere; this is called a free nutation. Somewhat confusingly, the direction of the Earth's spin axis relative to the stars also varies with different periods, and these motions—caused by the tidal forces of the Moon and Sun—are also called nutations, except for the slowest, which are precessions of the equinoxes.

Axial precession

Processional movement of Earth. Earth rotates (white arrows) once a day around its rotational axis (red); this axis itself rotates slowly (white circle), completing a rotation in approximately 26,000 years
In astronomy, axial precession is a gravity-induced, slow, and continuous change in the orientation of an astronomical body's rotational axis. In particular, it can refer to the gradual shift in the orientation of Earth's axis of rotation, which, similar to a wobbling top, traces out a pair of cones joined at their apices in a cycle of approximately 26,000 years.[1] The term "precession" typically refers only to this largest part of the motion; other changes in the alignment of Earth's axis—nutation and polar motion—are much smaller in magnitude.

Earth's precession was historically called the precession of the equinoxes, because the equinoxes moved westward along the ecliptic relative to the fixed stars, opposite to the yearly motion of the Sun along the ecliptic. This term is still used in non-technical discussions, that is, when detailed mathematics are absent. Historically,[2] the discovery of the precession of the equinoxes is mostly attributed in the west to Hellenistic-era (2nd century BC) astronomer Hipparchus, although there are alternative suggestions claiming earlier discovery such as in Indian text Vedanga Jyotisha from 700 BCE. With improvements in the ability to calculate the gravitational force between and among planets during the first half of the nineteenth century, it was recognized that the ecliptic itself moved slightly, which was named planetary precession, as early as 1863, while the dominant component was named lunisolar precession.[3] Their combination was named general precession, instead of precession of the equinoxes.

en.wikipedia.org...

That an object gravitationally can have a small effect but in relation to a cumulative effect over billions of years, in relation to many objects...that is another story.

I would tend to disagree with you.

originally posted by: Kashai
a reply to: Phage

I would tend to disagree with you.

Your argument was based on billions of years...Earth is only 4 billion years old. So not even close to billions of years...

a reply to: Kashai

That an object gravitationally can have a small effect but in relation to a cumulative effect over billions of years, in relation to many objects...that is another story.

I would tend to disagree with you.

This object is a transient, because like any similar object its orbit is unstable.

Our calculations indicate 2016 HO3 has been a stable quasi-satellite of Earth for almost a century, and it will continue to follow this pattern as Earth's companion for centuries to come."

www.jpl.nasa.gov...

originally posted by: Orionx2

originally posted by: Kashai
a reply to: Phage

I would tend to disagree with you.

Your argument was based on billions of years...Earth is only 4 billion years old. So not even close to billions of years...

what you have just said makes no sense...so the earth has been around for about 4 billion years.

So we are not close to billions of years when 4 billion years have passed?????


"Quasi-satellites and Trojans", could very well have something to do with earths environmental conditions.

a reply to: Phage


Let me ask you and all concerned a question?


What would it take to stabilize Earth wobble??

a reply to: Kashai

A large satellite less than 300,000 miles away would do a good job of it.

a reply to: Phage


The moon is 238,855 miles away but nonetheless Ice ages do occur so what else???

a reply to: Phage

You mean the moon?

originally posted by: Kashai
That an object gravitationally can have a small effect but in relation to a cumulative effect over billions of years, in relation to many objects...that is another story.

I would tend to disagree with you.

While I agree in essence that near objects influence each other, you say it in this quote: "billions of years."

By this article, the asteroid has only been affecting Earth for ~100 years. Not enough time for noticeable effect.

Pluto, Ceres and Xena have likely had more influence on Earth's wobble.

originally posted by: Kashai

originally posted by: Orionx2

originally posted by: Kashai
a reply to: Phage

I would tend to disagree with you.

Your argument was based on billions of years...Earth is only 4 billion years old. So not even close to billions of years...

what you have just said makes no sense...so the earth has been around for about 4 billion years.

So we are not close to billions of years when 4 billion years have passed?????


"Quasi-satellites and Trojans", could very well have something to do with earths environmental conditions.

Seriously... 4 billion is not billions. Billions, with an s, is like 100,000 billion. Anyway to stabilize the Earth less than 300.000 would be the moon. Don't know what your point is.

originally posted by: Kashai
a reply to: Phage


The moon is 238,855 miles away but nonetheless Ice ages do occur so what else???

I suppose very large vectored thrust engines near the poles would work.

A tiny rock millions of miles away sure wouldn't.

a reply to: Orionx2


To put it bluntly this is but one example of something that clearly has been a factor in earth history since its beginning.

While today it understood as a factor to a lesser degree it has always been a factor.


As far as your interpretation of modern English 4 billion years does in fact constitute "billions" of years. Just as 4 grapes is enough to add the "s" to the word "grape'.

originally posted by: Phage

originally posted by: Kashai
a reply to: Phage


The moon is 238,855 miles away but nonetheless Ice ages do occur so what else???

I suppose very large vectored thrust engines near the poles would work.

A tiny rock millions of miles away sure wouldn't.

What about another object about 1/5 the size of the moon?

I still think that these objects and despite there size make a difference.

a reply to: Phage


What do you think would happen to Earth if the "Wobble" were eradicated?

a reply to: Teikiatsu


As expressed and to elaborate while this particular object has been around for only about 100 years there were obviously other objects in a similar situation in the past.