A horseshoe orbit. Image via Phyorg
A new (to us) asteroid has been found and it turns out to be an “Earth companion”. Not new really the asteroid has been in the orbit for some 250,000 years according to astronomers.
The asteroid, named 2010 SO16 was found by the WISE spacecraft gained the attention of Apostolis Christou and David Asher who apparently noticed something different about this one.
Different indeed, with respect to Earth asteroid 2010 SO16 appears to be in a rare Horseshoe orbit. Almost weird.
The Royal Astronomical Society explains . . .
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