Astronomers discover ancient 'fake moon' following Earth's orbit.
TL;DR
An asteroid called 2023 FW13 has been following Earth around the sun since 100 BC, but it's actually orbiting the sun and not Earth, making it a "quasi-moon" or "fake moon." The asteroid is roughly 20 meters long and comes within about 9 million miles of Earth at the closest point of its path. It's unlikely to hit Earth, though. This isn't Earth's first extra moon, but for now, the moon we all know and love is still the only moon that matters to our lives here on Earth.
- A 'fake moon' has been following Earth around the sun since 100 BC, and astronomers just noticed Yahoo! Voices
- Newfound 'Quasi-Moon' Has Been Earth's Fellow Traveler for Thousands of Years Scientific American
- Science news this week: A quasi-moon and a lonely spy whale Livescience.com
- Astronomers find 'fake moon' that has trailed Earth since 100 BC Chron
- Fake moon: Space rock stalking Earth turns out to be follower of Sun Geo News
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