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After more than half a century of speculation, it has now been confirmed that the Earth was orbited by two "moons" of dust, which are nine times larger than our planet.
Scientists have discovered two other moons on Earth in addition to the one we have known for so long.
The Earth is not only one moon, she has three. The existence of the two extra-moons has been hotly debated for more than 50 years, but according to a recent National Geographic report, Hungarian astronomers and physicists finally provided enough data to confirm that our moon had at least two other companions – entirely in dust. .
The team of researchers confirmed their presence through photographs of natural bodies at a distance of about 250,000 miles – more or less the same distance as our moon.
The discovery was published in Monthly notices from the Royal Astronomical Society.
Facts about newly discovered dust moons
- Researchers have long since deduced from the presence of Kordylewski clouds or dusty moons
- But the first glimpse of the clouds was only seen in 1961 by the Polish astronomer Kazimierz Kordylewski, according to which the dust clouds were named
- The new findings indicate that each Kordylewsky cloud is about 15 by 10 wide, or is equal to 30 out of 20 lunar discs in the night sky.
- They are spread over an area almost nine times the width of the Earth – approximately 65,000 over 45,000 full-size miles
- The & # 39; moons & # 39; dust are huge but theyAde of tiny particles of dust which barely measures a micrometer on
- When sunlight strikes dust particles, they glow very faintly, much like the zodiacal light we receive scattered dust between planetary orbits.
- Since these satellite dust clouds emit extremely dim light, it is very difficult to find them among the starlight, the brightness of the sky, the galactic light and the zodiacal light in the sky, although They are as close to us as the moon.
- The recent study revealing the existence of both "moons" of dust used special polarizing filters on cameras to reveal scattered light from the reflection of individual dust particles in clouds.
Kordylewski clouds are constantly changing
Kordylewski clouds are constantly changing. They may be stable in orbit and may have existed for millions of years, but the ingredients that form the clouds – the dust particles – are always exchanged for others.
Some escape from the Earth or Moon to attract gravity, while others come from interplanetary spaces and meteor showers.
How the Lagrange points in the space helped to find the extra "moons"
The speculations on the Earth having several moons succeed one another in circles of astronomers since years. It was found that if additional moons existed, they could only do so at stable points in Earth's orbit.
Lagrange points (source: NASA)
The Lagrange points are pleasant atmosphere points in a planetary orbit where the gravitational attraction acting on two opposing celestial bodies is balanced due to the centripetal force of their orbits.
Thus, an object located at a point in Lagrange will remain fixed at a constant distance from the Moon and the Earth.
In the 1950s, Kordylewski searched for two Lagrange points – L4 and L5 – where he first discovered the two clouds of dust orbiting the Earth.
Can these dust & # 39;moons are dangerous or will they help us?
These huge clouds of dust could greatly contribute to space exploration efforts in terms of fuel consumption and safety.
Sometimes satellites must be parked at Lagrange points so that the spacecraft consumes a minimum of fuel and can remain in orbit.
To this end, the James Webb Space Telescope will be installed at L2 Lagrange in 2020.
In addition, space agencies are also planning to use Lagrange points as transfer stations for Mars missions.
What you have to see now is that there are more such dusty moons waiting to be found at nearby Lagrange points.
Read: Here is a new theory on the formation of the moon
Read: Cave found on Moon could One day the humans of the house!
Read: The moon was habitable, not one but twice in history
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