16 SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | JUNE 2022
By Cindy Ponce de Leon, Resident
Although the Moon is Earth's only natural satellite, there are
a number of near-Earth objects (NEOs) with orbits that are in
resonance with Earth. These have been called "second" moons of
Earth.
469219 Kamo'oalewa, an asteroid discovered on 27 April 2016,
is possibly the most stable quasi-satellite of Earth. Scientists are
discovering new near-Earth asteroids practically daily. There are
26,115 asteroids that pass near Earth according to NASA's Center
for Near Earth Object Studies. Over 2,000 are potentially dangerous
Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs).
In March 2022 there were two concerning asteroid incidents.
Asteroid 2022 FH was the closest asteroid circling the earth and was
as big as a house. It did not deviate from its orbit and did not hit the
earth. Asteroid 2022 EB5 however, crashed into an isolated area on
the coast of Greenland. It was estimated to be six and half feet wide
and its speed was five times faster than the speed of sound. Luckily
for Earth, the impact happened in an isolated location and did not
cause any casualties. If any of the other three asteroids traveling with
2022 EB5 had hit the earth there could have been mass destruction.
For instance, the asteroid 2015 DR215 is 910 feet wide. If an asteroid
of that size struck the earth it could cause large scale localized
damage and possibly generate earthquakes or tsunamis.
Learning all this stuff about asteroids made me ask the question
"What else is circling the Earth?" There were 4,550 active satellites
in orbit as of Sept 1, 2021, and 3,170 inactive satellites in orbit as
of February 22, 2022. It's staggering to ponder the amount of stuff
that surrounds us in orbit at any given moment and makes me truly
grateful that so far, we have been spared from any cataclysmic event.
COUNT YOUR LUCKY STARS
