Tiny asteroid becomes Earth's constant companion

​Washington: Our Earth has got a small companion. NASA scientists have discovered a tiny asteroid in an orbit around the Sun that keeps it as a constant companion of Earth and will remain so for centuries to come.

As it orbits the sun, this new asteroid named "2016 HO3" appears to circle around the Earth as well. It is too distant to be considered a true satellite of our planet but it is the best and most stable example to date of a near-Earth companion or "quasi-satellite". The size of this object has not yet been firmly established but it is likely larger than 120 ft and smaller than 300 ft.

Since '2016 HO3' loops around our planet but never ventures very far away as we both go around the Sun, we refer to it as a quasi-satellite of Earth," said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Centre for Near-Earth Object (NEO) Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

One other asteroid named "2003 YN107" followed a similar orbital pattern for a while over 10 years ago, but it has since departed the vicinity.

"This new asteroid is much more locked onto us. Our calculations indicate that '2016 HO3' has been a stable quasi-satellite of Earth for almost a century, and it will continue to follow this pattern as Earth's companion for centuries to come," Chodas added in a statement.

Source: IANS