Question: Recently astronomers have discovered a Mini-Moon (2020 CD3) around which of the following planets of our Solar system?
(a) Mars
(b) Venus
(c) Earth
(d) Jupiter
Answer: (c)
Related facts:
- On the night of February 15, 2020 the mini-moon called 2020 CD3 was discovered by researchers Kacper Wierzchos and Teddy Pruyne.
- They made this discovery at the (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Nasa-funded Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona.
- It has been observed that celestial body has been orbiting our planet Earth for the past three years and commonly named as mini-moon and specifically as 2020 CD3.
- The new mini-moon was discovered using a 1.52-metre telescope at Mount Lemmon Observatory near Tucson, Arizona.
- The findings of the observation suggest that mini-moon 2020 CD3 entered Earth’s orbit around three years ago, Minor Planet Center (MPC) confirmed this.
- Minor Planet Center is the single worldwide location for receipt and distribution of positional measurements of minor planets, comets and outer irregular natural satellites of the major planets.
Links:
https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/mini-moon-orbit-earth-2020-cd3-car-sized-second-natural-satellite-1650940-2020-02-28
https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/