Astronomers have discovered that recently spotted asteroid known as 2023 FW13 is actually a quasi-moon, sticking with Earth during its orbit.
Astronomers believe asteroid 2023 FW13 shares a similar orbit to another quasi-moon that is known as Kamoʻoalewa . The asteroid is estimated to be around 65 feet wide. While it sticks with Earth during its orbit, astronomers say that the Sun has a much higher influence on it.
However, Earth disturbs its orbit slightly, which is why it always hovers near our planet. It still travels around the Sun, orbiting the star at the center of our solar system in the same amount of time as Earth. And, each year, asteroid 2023 FW13 ventures within 9 million miles of our planet. That’s still a long way out, as the Moon orbits around our Earth at just 223,693 miles when at its closest point. As such, there are no concerns about asteroid 2023 FW13 hitting Earth or causing any issues with our planet. The asteroid’s Earth-close orbit was first discovered by Adrien Coffinet, aIt’s possible that future missions to the quasi-moon could bring us more information about how big it is, and even what materials it comprised of.
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