Often, this only slightly changes and orbit and sends it in another direction, or pulls it close by Earth without creating an impact to our planet, he said. If the object is close enough to the Earth, Earth’s gravity will pull on the objects, changing the object’s orbit.” “This happens when the Earth intersects close enough to asteroids in orbit to the sun. “Small objects like 2020 CD3 are often pulled in close to the Earth,” Pruyne said.
With increasing capabilities of surveys, it’s likely that more temporarily captured objects “will be discovered in the coming years, allowing for improved definition and characterization of this strange class of near-Earth objects.” “The story of 2006 RH120 is not without controversy however, as its orbit appears similar to some Apollo-era spent rockets boosters, and therefore some scientists believe it may be an artificial object,” according to the survey’s website. It’s known as a TCO, or Temporarily Captured Object, to astronomers. The first known asteroid to orbit Earth, asteroid 2006 RH120, was discovered using the Catalina Sky Survey in September 2006. “With further observations and a better understanding of the orbit, dynamicists will be able to trace 2020 CD3’s processing through the Earth-Moon system, and work backward to the pre-capture orbit,” he said. So far, they only have about a week’s worth of data, Christensen said. This will help them determine if it is a rocky asteroid or an artificial object, said Eric Christensen, director of the Catalina Sky Survey. “This will better help us understand the origin of the object, as well as a more accurate timeline of when the object came into orbit.”
“Over the next few weeks, more observations are likely to come in,” Pruyne said in an email to CNN. The asteroid is likely between 6.2 feet and 11.4 feet in diameter, the researchers said on Twitter. Further observations and dynamical studies are strongly encouraged.” “No link to a known artificial object has been found. “Orbit integrations indicate that this object is temporarily bound to the Earth,” according to the announcement on its site. The MPC is “the single worldwide location for receipt and distribution of positional measurements of minor planets, comets and outer irregular natural satellites of the major planets.”
On Tuesday, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Minor Planet Center announced the object. In this case, they found a natural satellite that was pulled into Earth’s orbit, likely two or three years ago. Specialists at Catalina help NASA discover and track near-Earth objects that could be potentially hazardous to the planet. The survey is supported by the Near-Earth Object Observations Program, which reports into NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office. It’s a NASA-funded project at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tuscon, Arizona. The discovery was made by Kacper Wierzchos and Theodore Pruyne, researcher specialists for the Catalina Sky Survey. The international Gemini Observatory/NSF's National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory The International Gemini Observatory captured this image of 2020 CD3 at the center using the 8-meter Gemini North telescope on Hawaii's Maunakea.
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