Nasa solves the mystery of the mysterious "mini moon" - which object orbits the earth

The earth has a new mini moon: The object 2020 SO will orbit the earth until March 2021.

Now NASA knows for sure what is behind the mysterious object.

• The mysterious

  object 2020 SO has been

  orbiting the

  earth

  as a

  "mini moon"

  since mid-November

  .

• For a long time, researchers puzzled what it might be - because

  it's not

  an

  asteroid

  .

• Space research * around

  NASA

  has now

  solved the riddle and confirmed a suspicion.

Frankfurt - Since mid-November the

temporarily has a

.

The object, named

, was "captured" by the Earth's gravity and will orbit it by March 2021.

researchers have calculated

that the object will then break away from the zone in which the earth's gravity acts and orbit the sun in a new orbit

.

In 1966 @NASA launched Surveyor 2 to the Moon.

Over 50 years later, #PlanetaryDefense experts at @ PanSTARRS1 and @NASAJPL detected what could be the upper stage of the rocket that carried Surveyor 2 off our planet: Learn more about this temporary visitor: https://t.co/zVV9P0rXyK pic. twitter.com/oAmEnbFcKd

- NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) November 12, 2020

But

is not just any object, 2020 SO is special: the object is a

.

Researchers have suspected for some time * that it could be the

that the

the US space agency

towards the

in 1966

.

The mission went wrong and the burned-out rocket stage made its way into orbit around the sun as planned.

NASA: burned-out rocket stage orbits the earth as a "mini moon"

Researchers are now certain: the

has returned near the

.

Current observations by NASA researchers confirm this: With the help of a

telescope in Hawaii, a team led by planetary scientist Vishnu Reddy tried to determine the color of the object - a difficult task: "Because of the extreme dullness of the object, it was a challenging object", Reddy remembers and adds: "We made color observations that suggest that SO 2020 is not an

."

+

A Centaur rocket stage in 1964. Such a rocket stage was also used for NASA's "Surveyor 2" mission.

It is currently orbiting the earth as a "mini moon".

© NASA

Further observations followed: Reddy's team analyzed the nature of the object and compared the spectral data from SO 2020 with the data from stainless steel - the material from which the

in the 1960s.

But the data did not match one hundred percent.

The researchers' assumption: the spectra of stainless steel, which has been exposed to the adverse conditions of space for 54 years, and new stainless steel in the laboratory simply did not go together.

NASA researchers observe Centaur rocket stage - and come to a clear conclusion

Another observation should clarify.

“We knew that if we wanted to compare apples with apples, we had to find the spectral data from another

that has been in

for many years

,” explains Reddy of his team's idea.

However, such an observation is extremely difficult: Because of the "extreme speed" with which a Centaur rocket stage orbits the earth, it is not easy to obtain "solid and reliable data".

But on December 1, 2020, Reddy's team achieved what they had hardly thought possible: They observed a Centaur rocket stage that has been orbiting the earth since its launch in 1971, long enough to obtain spectral data.

They were able to

compare

this data with the

- and lo and behold: the data matched.

The result of the researchers: As suspected, 2020 SO is a

.

Mysterious Object 2020 SO: Earth's “mini moon” is a rocket stage, confirms NASA

There had already been indications that

actually be an empty

.

Solar radiation changed the trajectory of the mysterious object more than an

would.

Solar radiation has a greater impact on hollow objects - like an empty rocket stage - than it does on boulders like asteroids.

A light, hollow object with a large surface is knocked around more by solar radiation than a stone - the Nasa Center for Studies of Near-Earth Objects (CNEOS) compares it to an empty beverage can that is moved more by the wind than a small stone.

2020 SO came very close to the earth and the moon in 1966

In addition, calculations showed that

came very close to Earth in 1966 - so close that the object may have launched from Earth that year.

“One of the possible paths for 2020 SO brought the object very close to the earth and the moon in late September 1966,” explains CNEOS director Paul Chodas, when he came up with the idea that 2020 SO was the

could act.

“It was like a Eureka moment when a quick check of the launch dates for lunar missions showed a match with the Surveyor 2 mission,” says Chodas.

Now the

returned close to

.

On November 8, 2020, she was captured by Earth's gravity.

By March 2020 it will

draw two large loops around the earth

as a

.

On December 1, 2020, 2020 SO reached its closest approach to Earth.

Astronomers want to keep watching SO 2020, the relic from the time of the “space race”, as long as possible.

(Tanja Banner)