Those of you who have a fascination with extraterrestrial trivia (like me), will be happy to know that Earth has two moons.
We all know the Moon ("Luna" or "Selene"), which looks down upon earth with features that almost look dismayed; but we also have Cruithne ("Asteroid 3753" or "1986 TO"). Cruithne is a mere 5 kilometers wide, compared to the Moon's 3,476 kilometers, and orbits about a million kilometers away from Earth. As the Moon completes a full orbit around the Earth in 27 days, Cruithne takes the leisurely route, opting for an approximate 770 years.
Now, scientists have not yet officially classified Cruithne as a "moon" of Earth, calling it a "near-Earth asteroid" instead, but this is coming from the same type as just voted Pluto out of its planetary status that it has enjoyed since 1930. I am not a scientist, so call me a rebel, but I am going to continue classifying Pluto as a planet. I wouldn't mind adding Eris, Sedna, Quaoar, and others to the list of planets in our solar system either, but that would mean yet another remodeling of the world's astronomical museums, and goodness knows we don't want that again. But to me, Pluto is the ninth planet of the solar system, and Cruithne is the Earth's second moon.
4 comments:
To all those who love science, laws, definitions, and the International Astronomical Union: I am not out to destroy science. I don't even really have anything against definitions. But some things are too good to change.
Pardon me for mentioning it, sir, but what is Mousaion?
Greek for "Dwelling of the Muses," from which we get our word "museum." Well, roughly translated, at least.
Ah.. I might have been able to figure that out if I had actually read the URL instead of just linking from your profile. Thanks
Post a Comment