CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -Earth has an extra companion, a Trojan asteroid that will hang around for 4, 000 years. This is the second Earth Trojan asteroid ever spotted and the largest of its kind ever seen. In 2020, astronomers thought they’d found something incredible: the second so-called Earth Trojan asteroid ever seen.

Detailed explanation-2: -An Earth-crosser is a near-Earth asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Earth as observed from the ecliptic pole of Earth’s orbit. The known numbered Earth-crossers are listed here. Those Earth-crossers whose semi-major axes are smaller than Earth’s are Aten asteroids; the remaining ones are Apollo asteroids.

Detailed explanation-3: -An Earth trojan is an asteroid that orbits the Sun in the vicinity of the Earth–Sun Lagrangian points L4 (leading 60°) or L5 (trailing 60°), thus having an orbit similar to Earth’s. Only two Earth trojans have so far been discovered.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Earth has one steadfast companion – the moon has been locked in orbit around the Earth since its violent formation more than four billion years ago. However, Earth’s gravity can also tug on small nearby objects – the near-earth asteroids – temporarily making them companions of Earth.