Earth is being followed by a huge “Trojan asteroid”, scientists have revealed.
It’s one of the rarest asteroids ever discovered and shares the same orbit as our planet – and will track us for the next 4,000 years.
Researchers at the the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona confirmed the discovery of 2020 XL5, the second Earth Trojan asteroid ever found.
It’s also one of the biggest asteroids ever discovered around Earth, measuring 0.73miles (1.2 kilometres) in diameter – that’s almost as long as the Forth Road Bridge in Edinburgh.
And astronomers say humans may able to visit the rock one day and settle on “human bases”, according to the research.
Thankfully scientists say the asteroid does not currently pose a threat, but will stay in our orbit for thousands of years.
Scientists have known about the existence of Trojan asteroids for decades, since many other planets like Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune all have them.
Scientists have known about the existence of Trojan asteroids for decades, since many other planets like Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune all have them.
However, hardly any have been spotted in Earth’s orbit except for one known as 2010 TK7.
Scientists say it still remains unclear where exactly the latest trojan asteroid came from in the solar system.
The research was published in a new study, ‘Orbital stability analysis and photometric characterization of the second Earth Trojan asteroid 2020 XL5’, published in Nature Communications.
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