New Trojan asteroid discovered orbiting Earth. The 300 metre wide asteroid, known as 2010TK7 has been hard to find as it is normally hidden behind the daylight sky as viewed from Earth. Trojan asteroids are able to orbit planets in gravitationally stable points either just in front of or just behind bigger planets, with this one orbiting just in front of Earth. Despite it’s orbit taking it on a spiraling path in front of Earth, it has been predicted it will be stable in that orbit for at least 10,000 years. This type of asteroid has previously been observed around Jupiter, Mars and Neptune, and was discovered here by a Canadian led team using NASA’s wide-field infra-red survey satellite, launched two years ago.

New Trojan asteroid discovered orbiting Earth.

The 300 metre wide asteroid, known as 2010TK7 has been hard to find as it is normally hidden behind the daylight sky as viewed from Earth. Trojan asteroids are able to orbit planets in gravitationally stable points either just in front of or just behind bigger planets, with this one orbiting just in front of Earth.

Despite it’s orbit taking it on a spiraling path in front of Earth, it has been predicted it will be stable in that orbit for at least 10,000 years.

This type of asteroid has previously been observed around Jupiter, Mars and Neptune, and was discovered here by a Canadian led team using NASA’s wide-field infra-red survey satellite, launched two years ago.

stuff.co.nz

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