Tuesday 30/May/2023 – 12:13 AM
A new study revealed that the planet Earth has Qamar New, and it looks like a space rock orbiting the Earth, but it is gravitationally linked to the sun, and it continues to rotate for about 1,500 years, according to the British Daily Mail.
A new moon orbiting the Earth
The semi-moon, named 2023 FW13, was discovered by experts using the Pan-STARRS telescope at the top of Haleakala volcano in Hawaii, and is one of the few known quas-moons.
It continues to rotate for 1,500 years
Experts believe that the ancient cosmic companion has been around Earth since 100 BC and will continue to orbit our planet for at least another 1,500 years, until 3,700 AD.
Scientists say 2023 FW13, or a similar quasi-moon called 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, is not believed to pose any danger to people on Earth.
They noted that semi-moons, also known as quasi-satellites, often appear to orbit our planet like a natural satellite, known as Luna, but they are given the prefix quasi, because they are gravitationally bound to the sun rather than the Earth, rather than the other way around as is the case for Luna.
2023 FW13 differs from our moon, because it orbits well outside the ridge ball of Earth, the region around a planetary body, where its gravity is the dominant force that pulls satellites in.
The radius of the Earth’s hill ball is 932,000 miles, or 1.5 million kilometers, while the radius of 2023 FW13 from Earth is slightly larger, about 1.6 million miles.
The ring, about 0.18 astronomical units in radius, is so large that the Earth plays no major role in its motion, Alan Harris, a senior investigator at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, told Sky & Telescope.
He added: Although the size of 2023 FW13 is uncertain, asteroid specialist Richard Penzel estimates that its diameter ranges between 30 and 50 feet, or 10 to 15 meters.
