Unilad by Britt Jones 6/3/2023
A ‘fake moon’ has been tailing the Earth around the sun since 100 BC, and astronomers have only just noticed it.The culprit - a space rock dubbed 2023 FW13 - was first discovered in March using the renowned Pan-STARRS observatory in Hawaii, according to scientists.
At first glance, scientists originally believed the asteroid was circling the Earth, which would mean it would actually be a second moon. But upon further inspection, it was found that it's actually orbiting the sun which makes this asteroid a 'quasi-moon' or 'fake moon'.
As reported by Sky & Telescope, the large rock coincidentally travels roughly the same path and pace as our planet around the sun.
It turns out that this cheeky chappy might have been following our planet around the sun for approximately 2,121 years, completely undetected until now.
After hiding from experts for the last two millennia, how could it have been missed?
To answer the burning question, Alan Harris, a scientist specializing in near-Earth objects at the Space Science Institute, told Sky & Telescope: "Earth plays essentially no role in its motion", adding it is 'in no way associated with Earth other than by chance'.
So, how big is this rock and is it a danger to Earth?
Thankfully, no.
According to Space.com, the asteroid is around 20 meters long and keeps its distance from our planet - nine million miles at the closest point of its path, to be exact.
As for a chance of bumping into each other, scientist Harris doesn’t think it’s likely.
More:
https://www.unilad.com/news/astronomers-fake-moon-earth-047285-20230603
