Show 332: Asteroid Trailing Earth
5 May 2011, 15:00 UTC
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The solar system contains many small objects in addition to the well-known planets, moons and large asteroids. Some of these objects linger around the planets, and Earth has its own collection. Astronomers recently discovered a new member of this group, an asteroid with an orbit almost identical to Earth's orbit around the Sun. Due to gravitational perturbations caused by Earth, the asteroid drifts slightly in its orbit, so relative to Earth and the Sun it appears to be in a "horseshoe" shaped orbit. These orbits are very rare, and only a few were previously known.




