Earth Gets New Moon, Will Revolve Around Our Planet For 1500 Years

Astronomers have discovered a quasi-moon named 2023 FW13 with the help of the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii.

Earth has got another moon. This has been revealed in a new study. This moon is a quasi-moon. A quasi-moon is a space rock (asteroid) that orbits both the Earth and the Sun but is bound by the Sun’s gravity. Simply put, the Sun pulls the space rock towards itself.

Astronomers have discovered a quasi-moon named 2023 FW13 with the help of the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii. According to them, it was present around the earth for 2100 years (100 BC), and now, it has been identified. It will revolve around the earth for the next 1500 years, i.e., till AD 3700. After this, it will leave the Earth’s orbit. There will be no danger to the earth from this.

2023 FW13 revolves around the Sun in the same amount of time that the Earth takes (365 days), plus it also revolves around the Earth.

WHY 2023 FW13 IS A QUASI-MOON

Quasi-moons are also called quasi-satellites. Looking at them, it seems as if they are orbiting the Earth just like the moon. But they are bound by the gravity of the Sun instead of the Earth. That’s why they are called Quasi. Whereas the moon is bound by the gravity of the earth.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM OUR MOON?

New Moon – 2023 FW13 orbits outside Earth’s ‘hill sphere’. The ‘Hill Sphere’ is such a part of any planet, where the gravitational force of the planet is the most powerful. Due to this force, the satellites are pulled towards the planet. The radius (radius) of the Earth’s ‘hill sphere’ is 1.5 million kilometers, while the radius of 2023 FW13 is larger than this, i.e., 1.6 million kilometers. At the same time, the radius of the ‘Hill Sphere’ of our Moon is only 60 thousand kilometers.