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Old 09-16-2002, 01:56 PM  
SpaceAce
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Magrathea
Posts: 6,493
Quote:
Originally posted by mika


Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't it orbiting the SUN just like earth does. I mean it's an asteroid which is using the same orbit than Earth. It's not orbiting Earth
That's what I saw. It says it is in a 1:1 resonant orbit with the Earth, which means it goes around the sun 1 time for every 1 time we go around the sun. I think the term "second moon" is only because it approaches so closely (.1AU). Reading about it and watching the simulations, it is clearly not orbiting the Earth as we keep passing through its orbital plane.

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