Earth's "Other Moon"

Sky & Telescope ^ | April 17, 2007 | Roger W. Sinnott

[ken21]

le kewl!

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Cruithne never has a geocentric eccentricy less than one, so it’s not actually in orbit around the Earth. It is in an odd sort of resonance with the Earth. Check out the Wikipedia article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3753_Cruithne

[GoLightly]

I knew that, but thought it was kinda fun info in need of getting shared anyway. :o)

[GingisK]

even more interesting that we can detect and calculate that for a 1 meter object!

NORAD can track objects the size of a .22 cal bullet in orbit.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Good work! Thanks!

[GoLightly]

You a collector of odd knowledge too? Don’t ask me where I put my keys or any other ordinary important life information, but raise an obscure topic & it’s always possible that I have a tidbit of information about it stuck somewhere in the recesses of my brain. LOL

[Pontiac]

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

So what ever became of J002E3?

Is it or is it not a moon?

[omnivore]

Alien probe flyby.

You have been probed.

[Pontiac]

You a collector of odd knowledge too?

I had a friend in college that used to say to me “You’re a veritable cesspool or useless knowledge.”

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I’m OK at jeopardy, but not a trivial buff. I enjoy computation, per se and like the elegance of mathematical astronomy.

[P.O.E.]

Maybe God doesn’t play dice, but it sure looks like he plays Spirograph.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Occam would be impressed by your thinking. Not necessarily positively.

Of course, if the observations are accurate enough for a terrestial observer to rule out an expended rocket body based on the reaction to radiation pressure, the aliens would have to possess an extremely subtle grasp of dynamics - and anticipate the capabilities of terrestial observers - to mask their mission that well.

[GoLightly]

University of Arizona astronomers found that the object’s electromagnetic spectrum was consistent with white titanium dioxide paint, the same paint used by NASA for the Saturn V rockets. *snip* It is thought that J002E3 left Earth orbit in June, 2003, and that it may return to orbit the Earth in about 2032.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J002E3

Meanwhile over at the Near Earth Object Program...

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/j002e3a.html

More simply, I’ve no idea. LOL

[GoLightly]

LOL Nice of you to consider him/her to be a friend after that assessment. ;o)

[GoLightly]

I suck at trivia games, cuz they never use any of the stuff that I inadvertently keep in my mental collection. Mathematical astronomy sounds quite specialized, while I’m talking about something a bit more random.

[Pontiac]

Fantastic animation thanks for the links.

He was a very good friend may God rest his soul.

And God willing he will be again.

[GoLightly]

If you hadn’t asked for more info on J002E3, I wouldna looked. I’ve been having a lot of fun watching all of the paths on the “NEO Earth Close Approaches” page.

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/

Sorry to hear your friend is no longer with us & I’ve little doubt about you meeting up with him again.

[Central Scrutiniser]

Old news

[BigCinBigD]

M O O N That spells MOON. :oP

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I have that kind of mind too. It’s just that in my experience, I do better going from the specific to the general, rather than the other way.

I could never understand how anyone can study “math”. I want to solve problems. In order to solve a problem I may have to learn some math or physics, so that’s ok.

Finding an interest and digging into it is the way I learn. Almost everything interests me. (Unlike Jean Francois Kerry, I am not intrigued by rap music, for instance.)

I do ok in trivial games, in part because I’m a game player (poker, monopoly, bridge, chess, football, basketball...) and I learn how to “game” the answers. That’s really important in Jeopardy or Trivial Pursuit, for instance.