#orbital-resonance

[ follow ]
Science
fromwww.scientificamerican.com
9 hours ago

Far-Out Exoplanet Breaks a Cardinal Rule of Astronomy

TOI-1873 hosts three Neptune-sized planets with anomalous spacing: the third planet's observed transits are separated by 900 days instead of the expected ~90 days.
fromWIRED
2 months ago

Astronomers Have Discovered Earth's Latest Quasi-Lunar Moon

After analyzing its trajectory, scientists concluded that the object maintains a 1:1 resonance with the Earth. In other words, it orbits the sun at the same time as our planet. From a distant perspective, this synchronicity makes it look as if the Earth is accompanied by a tiny asteroid-as if it had an additional moon. Unlike the moon, quasi-lunar moons are not gravitationally bound to the Earth. They are ephemeral companions, in cosmological terms, following their own path around the sun. Only at certain times do they come close enough to appear bound.
Science
[ Load more ]