How many Moons Does Earth Have?
August 25th 2008 08:30
This image was taken with moonlight only time exposure Nikon D80 iso 800 : image Carlcan
With the exception of Venus and Mercury which have no moons at all.
The remainder of the planets in our solar system have at least one moon.
Mars has two odd shaped moons that look like potatoes. Pluto has one moon.
Our Earth has only one moon. At one time it was thought that earth may have had an orphan moon as well as our current moon. There are two other objects that some scientists have referred to as Earth's other moons, but they aren't really moons. The first is called 3753 Cruithne, and it's not a moon at all, but an asteroid (minor planet) that orbits our Sun. 3753 Cruithne’s orbit takes the same amount of time to orbit the Sun as the Earth, it sometimes looks like its following Earth in orbit around the Sun.
Image of 3753 Cruithne : Powell Observatory Kansas
Cruithne's path comes very close to Earth; the two objects as they now are can never collide because Cruithne's orbit is tilted to that of the Earth's by 19.8°. It's a very interesting object, and has an orbit that interacts with Earth, Cruithne really doesn't quality as a satellite of Earth. Cruithne is not visible to the naked eye at any point during its orbit.
Astronomers thought they may have discovered yet another moon in 2002, which they designated J002E3. But it turned out to be the third stage of the Apollo 12 Saturn V rocket.
There have been numerous asteroids venturing in close proximity with Earth within the last few years. Asteroid 2007 TU24 come within 540,000 kilometers in January 2007. This particular asteroid does not follow Earth.
| 42 |
| Vote |
Shared on
Add To: 
Subscribe to this blog
