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That’s No Moon

In Moons by Brian Koberlein0 Comments

Cruithne is a small, rocky body about 5 kilometers across. It was discovered in 1986, and it is sometimes referred to as Earth’s second moon. The argument for calling it a moon of Earth is because it is gravitationally bound by the Earth, just like the Moon. But Cruithne doesn’t orbit the Earth, so what exactly is going on? The answer has to do with some interesting complexities of orbital dynamics.