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[Vengeance]

How many moons does Earth have? One? Not so fast. Check out the article below.










By Dr David Whitehouse
BBC News Online science editor  
 
 
An amateur astronomer may have found another moon of the Earth. Experts say it may have only just arrived.
Much uncertainty surrounds the mysterious object, designated J002E3. It could be a passing chunk of rock captured by the Earth's gravity, or it could be a discarded rocket casing coming back to our region of space.

It was discovered by Bill Yeung, from his observatory in Arizona, US, and reported as a passing Near-Earth Object.

It was soon realised, however, that far from passing us, it was in fact in a 50-day orbit around the Earth.

Paul Chodas, of the American space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, says it must have just arrived or it would have been easily detected long ago.

Calculations suggest it may have been captured earlier this year.

Moon or junk?

When he detected the object, Bill Yeung contacted the Minor Planet Center in Massachusetts, the clearing house for such discoveries, which gave it the designation J002E3 and posted it on their Near-Earth Object Confirmation webpage.

Soon, however, the object's motion suggested it was in an orbit around the Earth. Its movements had all the hallmarks of being a spent rocket casing or other piece of space junk.

But experts are not completely sure what exactly the object is.

Observations made by Tony Beresford in Australia indicate that the object's position does not match any known piece of space junk.

Observations made in Europe have failed to see any variations in brightness that might be expected from a slowly spinning metallic object.

Paul Chodas says the object must have arrived quite recently or else it would have been easily detected by any of several automated sky surveys that astronomers are conducting.

Its trajectory suggests that it may have been captured in April or May of this year, but there is still some uncertainty about this.

If it is determined that J002E3 is natural it will become Earth's third natural satellite.

Earth's second one is called Cruithne. It was discovered in 1986 and it takes a convoluted horseshoe path around our planet as it is tossed about by the Earth's and the Moon's gravity.

[elmono311]

I didn't know there was a second satellite already (Cruithne or Crouton as I call it). I think these scientists are all spooging in their pants, making a big deal out of a piece of space debris. C'mon, who's going to recognize a piece of junk as a moon of Earth?

[Supermercado]

Shoot, I didn't know we had two moons. I must have missed that memo. But yeah, I'd hardly consider a piece of space junk a moon.

[Catfish]

A moon: a natural satellite of a planet


A satellite:  a: a celestial body orbiting another of larger size b : a manufactured object or vehicle intended to orbit the earth, the moon, or another celestial body

[disnut8]

OK catfish - a "natural satellite" and a "manufactured object".  I don't think something that is manufactured qualifies as a natural anything.  I guess that means that everytime the space shuttle goes up, we have yet another moon.

[LostArtofRolando]

eh its all junk up there anyways... even the moon.  why do you think that face is all so scared, shocked, or unhappy?  i'd be a tad pissed off to be wading in my big brother's (earth) filth.  ah well.... in space, no one can hear you scream.

[Catfish]

lol, just placing definitions up there so it makes it quite obvious that if it turns out to be space junk, it couldn't be considered a moon (not that we didn't know that, lol)... but if it is a cellestial body, then it would be... I was curious what it would consider an asteroid or a comet that fell into orbit

[elmono311]

I wonder how those shuttles manuever out there now. I heard there's a ton of trash up there and then they have to deal with the bazillion satellites that are up there now. Hey, how come they don't call those man-made satellites moons? They orbit the planet, don't they? Going by that reasoning, we have hundreds of moons.

[Supermercado]

I wonder how, if there's so much crap out there, we don't have a ton of collisions, some of them major, between our shuttles and satellites and all that space junk.

[disnut8]

then they have to deal with the bazillion satellites that are up there now.

elmono, that's a question for your Unca Dave.  That's exactly what he does for a living - puts those bazillion satellites up there.

[elmono311]

And he's a family party pooper

[Vengeance]

Don't ruin the surprise. I haven't met him yet. hehehe

[LostArtofRolando]

I wonder how, if there's so much crap out there, we don't have a ton of collisions, some of them major, between our shuttles and satellites and all that space junk.

you know, there are tons of collisions between the particles and the space shuttle.  that is one of the reasons why they have to replace those heat sensitive (proof) tiles everytime the thing goes up.  The particles create weaknesses on impact with the tiles, and then the weakened tiles will fail upon reintry, though usually the shuttle makes it back fast enough before the heat can seriously affect the rest of the shuttle (if it wasnt goin fast enough, the heat would bore a hole through that tile section, and burn up everything inside)... they postulate that that might be one explanation of what happened to the last shuttle incident.  (the one that littered all over eastern texas).

[Supermercado]

True. I guess that shows my ignorance of the space program. And space in general, I suppose.

[elmono311]

I wonder how, if there's so much crap out there, we don't have a ton of collisions, some of them major, between our shuttles and satellites and all that space junk.

you know, there are tons of collisions between the particles and the space shuttle.  that is one of the reasons why they have to replace those heat sensitive (proof) tiles everytime the thing goes up.  The particles create weaknesses on impact with the tiles, and then the weakened tiles will fail upon reintry, though usually the shuttle makes it back fast enough before the heat can seriously affect the rest of the shuttle (if it wasnt goin fast enough, the heat would bore a hole through that tile section, and burn up everything inside)... they postulate that that might be one explanation of what happened to the last shuttle incident.  (the one that littered all over eastern texas).

I thought something slammed right into the wing at lift off, causing the big hole in the heat shields in the first place

[LostArtofRolando]

ah, you may be correct too, thats why i said it was one of the theories at the moment.  plus i had a shitton of drinks last night (my best friend graduated from college), so you might have to take a lot of what i say today with a grain of salt.

[elmono311]

I just remember seeing the footage of something hitting the wing, which, for some reason, the people at NASA thought that it wouldn't affect anything...

[LostArtofRolando]

good ol' NASA. and people wonder why i dont want to be an astronaut.  well, if its anything like flying, thered be zero gee vomit inside the shuttle cabin, and all the astronauts would make fun of me.

[Vengeance]

good ol' NASA. and people wonder why i dont want to be an astronaut.  well, if its anything like flying, thered be zero gee vomit inside the shuttle cabin, and all the astronauts would make fun of me.

Wait...what? What do you mean if it's anything like flying? What's flying like?

[elmono311]

good ol' NASA. and people wonder why i dont want to be an astronaut.  well, if its anything like flying, thered be zero gee vomit inside the shuttle cabin, and all the astronauts would make fun of me.

Wait...what? What do you mean if it's anything like flying? What's flying like?

Going up in space and flying from one city to another really have nothing to do with each other

[LostArtofRolando]

have you never been flying?  being born in Germany, with all of our family in the states, every friggin trip was an 8 hour ride across the atlantic.  no land to see, a horizon that doesnt move... while you continue to bob up and down.  it's a weird disorienting feeling where you feel like you're moving (which you are) but you're senses tell you that you're not.  And i'm not sure if that confusion is what starts my stomach to getting all queasy or what...
   Oddly enough, it was something i've grown out of over time.  I havent been sick on a plane in 10 years, but its the association i have with flying so i'm partial.  Most people don't have as *delicate* (i feel like a wuss) a stomach as me though (i still get sick on boats and roller coasters).  As much as i hate planes, i still ride them though.  TUesday, i'll be bound for San Antonio by one.

[Supermercado]

Spending Christmas with your old man?

[elmono311]

You just had to say all that stuff... Vengeance has never flown and she's freaking out about flying in exactly one week from now. You're making my job harder! :-)

[LostArtofRolando]

good ol' NASA. and people wonder why i dont want to be an astronaut.  well, if its anything like flying, thered be zero gee vomit inside the shuttle cabin, and all the astronauts would make fun of me.

Wait...what? What do you mean if it's anything like flying? What's flying like?

Going up in space and flying from one city to another really have nothing to do with each other

well they both involve being strapped into man-made machines and hoping for the best, haha.

[elmono311]

You could say the same for a car