The Earth, in addition to its majestic Moonhouses smaller and more fleeting companions, known as “minimoonsThese tiny moons, until recently unimaginable, orbit our planet in peculiar trajectories, offering intriguing clues about their origin and the history of our planet. Solar system.
In the last decade, the astronomy has made a giant leap in the detection of these celestial objects. The best-known mini-moon, 2016 HO3, was discovered in 2016 by the Chinese Tianwen-2 space mission. With a size between 40 and 100 meters, it dances around the Land at a distance between 100 and 300 times the lunar distance.
Its companion, 2022 NX1, is even smaller, with an estimated diameter of between 5 and 10 meters. Discovered in 2022, it shares the characteristic of being a temporary mini-moon, with an orbit that will expel it from the Earth's gravitational attraction in the coming decades.
Unlike the Moon, which formed from a giant impact billions of years ago, 2016 HO3 and 2022 NX1 could be pieces of the Moon itself. Moon released in more recent events. This theory is based on its chemical composition, similar to that of eroded lunar silicates, and on its orbitswhich present characteristics consistent with a lunar origin.
The researchers suggest that the person responsible for the “release” of these mini moons could be the Giordano Bruno crater, a giant 22-kilometer-wide scar on the far side of the Moon. A colossal impact at this point would have generated rock fragments, some of which, like 2016 HO3 and 2022 NX1, would have been trapped in orbits around Earth.
The existence of these mini moons is ephemeral. It is estimated that 2016 HO3 will only remain in Earth orbit for about 10 million years, a breeze in cosmic terms. The gravitational pull of other celestial bodies will eventually deflect it, sending it on a solitary journey through the space. 2022 NX1, due to its smaller size, has an even shorter life.
Confirmation of the theory of the lunar origin of 2016 HO3 and 2022 NX1 would open a new window in the understanding of the history of the Moon and its formation. However, the rocks are too far away for a manned space mission, making them difficult to study directly.
Hope lies in the future. Space missions like the Neo Surveyor POTscheduled for 2027, promise to more accurately map near-Earth objects, increasing the chances of discovering new mini-moons and confirming their origin.
Despite their tiny size and fleeting existence, minimoons offer valuable information about the formation of our solar system, the history of the Moon, and celestial dynamics.
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