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First Earth Trojan Asteroid Discovered
The Bad Astronomer writes "Astronomers have found the very first Earth Trojan asteroid, a rock that more-or-less shares Earth's orbit around the Sun. Seen in data by NASA's WISE mission, 2010 TK7 is about 300 meters across and leads the Earth by 60 degrees around the Sun. Trojans have been seen for Jupiter, Neptune, and Mars, but this is the first for our planet."
It seems like the asteroid would do just find without corporate sponsorship.
... the very first Earth Trojan asteroid,
Curse its sudden but inevitable betrayal.
-- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
Is First Earth anything like Second Life?
Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
This one should be called 'Lagrange'
Since this trojan shows that the Earth hasn't cleared its orbit, does that mean that Earth is no longer considered a planet?
Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
It's a KE weapon to be used by some nation.
I'm sorry, you lost part of your city to an asteroid?! Damn, what are the odds of that happening. Nature sure does suck doesn't it.
Life is not for the lazy.
The asteroid orbits one of the two Lagrangian points of stability of the Earth-Sun system
I like the proposed names of Coeus or Crius, the sons of Gaia for those who didn't RTFA, that that author suggests.
Time to offend someone
And here I thought that from what I've heard so far that Earth had possibly some dust or at most some gravel at its L4 and L5 points. This discovery of a sizable asteroid there makes the Earth's L4/L5 points much more interesting. Hopefully there is even more to be found!
while true; do eject; eject -t; done
No, the Lagrange points are stable garbage dumps for planets to put "small" things of 9% of its mass or less, the stuff stays there. It's one of the ways a planet clears its orbit.
When did it get there?
If it's a Trojan asteroid, does that mean it's full of space Greeks?!!!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
how do we know it's "leading by 60 degrees"? Maybe it's trailing by 300!
antipaucity
Nope. It's caused by Global Warming, which is caused by man. Everything that happens, or doesn't happen, is caused by Global Warming.
Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
Well, now, uh, Launcelot, Galahad and I, wait until nightfall, and then leap out of the asteroid, taking the French, uh, by suprise. Not only by suprise, but totally unarmed! ...*Who* leaps out?
even if it is a glacier which every 5,000-10,000 years builds itself up, and then melts away. repeating the process over and over again, in some form of cycle that is very hard to understand.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
In fact. Don't speed up either.
Who will be the first person to suggest placing VLBI radio telescopes at each lagrange point? Oh I guess it'll be me. A nice heavy asteroid would be convenient for vibration dampening WRT antenna pointing.
The problem is when/if we ever do planetary colonization, those L points will be in high demand for planetary relay satellites, as no matter where any other planet is in its orbit relative to earth's orbit, at least one earth L point should be in view... so what do we want there, sensitive receivers or big ole transmitters? I'm guessing we'll have some kind of scientific "quiet hours" scheme where the scientists get the first second of every minute, first minute of every hour, and first hour of every day, of radio silence. Or maybe they'll just be screwed?
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Wasn't clearing it's orbit of other objects one of the conditions of being considered a planet that in part lead to Pluto being downgraded? I strictly mention this because I think the downgrade was silly. They seem to cherry pick conditions with the intent to downgrade Pluto.
If this were found at L3, that would sound about right.
And if a LOT of stuff accumulates there - you get a new moon. Eventually.
That's how we got our favorite Luna, probably.
Being that this is in the same orbit around the Sun as Earth and it will stay there, is this a viable location for a human colony?
First space colony would be the moon, then this asteroid, then Mars?
...2010 TK7 is about 300 meters across...
It would be kind of cramped, and I rather suspect the gravitational pull would be negligible for all practical purposes.
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
First thing that crossed through my mind when I read this, duuh, that's an L4 or L5 isn't it?
Probably the only reason it took them this long to "discover" it was its small size. After all, they knew exactly where to look.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
It would be kind of cramped, and I rather suspect the gravitational pull would be negligible for all practical purposes.
Assuming the same average density as Earth, the surface gravity would be about 1/50000 that of Earth. I make it 0.0002 meters/second squared.
...laura
Tell me.... Does it have oil?????
This sig is not paradoxical or ironic.
Thanks for the explanation. My first thought upon reading this was "wait a second, didn't Pluto lose its status as a planet in part because it had not cleared its orbit?"
Apparently wizard is not a legitimate career path, so I chose programmer instead.
THIS IS SLASHDOT!
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
... and find out what it is made of. Get some govt funding going to a private company and mine it. Profit.
http://visions2200.com/SpaceHabitat.html
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
I've always suspected that Earth has some additional tiny moons that haven't been discovered yet -- but my professors always pooh-poohed that idea, without really giving a good reason why.
Now it turns out that an Earth Trojan has gone undetected until now. This strengthens my belief that Earth has some miniature natural satellites awaiting discovery.
That that is is that that that that is not is not.
A significant fraction of the earth's density (~20%) comes from gravitational compression.
A smaller body with the exact same material composition as Earth would have lower density than the Earth does.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
Why is it 50 million miles away? If it's at a Lagrange point, at 60 degrees offset, shouldn't it be 93 million miles away?
Thanks, I was trying to remember the name of that bad boy. Cruithne!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3753_Cruithne
Lil' Thindime, lilting a lacrimose lament, krashes the kwaint konfines of Kokonino Kounty
No, the Lagrange points are stable garbage dumps for planets to put "small" things of 9% of its mass or less, the stuff stays there. It's one of the ways a planet clears its orbit.
Theoretically you are right. Practically, the orbit of TK7 is actually unstable. Because TK7 executes some Lissajous orbit around L4 and the Moon orbit is eccentric (search for the "the case of the Earth-Moon system" in the linked page).
Questions raise, answers kill. Raise questions to stay alive.
Does this mean Earth is no longer a planet like Pluto?
Planet requirements:
1. It needs to be in orbit around the Sun. (Check)
2. It needs to have enough gravity to pull itself into a spherical shape. (Check)
3. It needs to have “cleared the neighborhood” of its orbit. (Uh oh! Pluto doesn't satisfy this requirement and apparently now Earth doesn't either!)
Obviously I jest, but I do find it funny.
300 meters across?
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Which means that if you fart while sitting on the Asteroid you'll reach escape velocity.
The Trojan asteroid now comes with a fire & ice sensation.
I for one welcome our new Trojan Earth Overlords!
http://undecidedgames.blogspot.com