Earth is in orbit around two "dust moons", scientists say – BGR

In a new article published in Monthly Notices from the Royal Astronomical Society, the scientists say they confirmed the presence of two clouds of dust orbiting the Earth at about the same distance as our moon. This discovery is the confirmation of a work that goes back several decades, in the early 1960s, when clouds were spotted for the first time.

The presence of dust clouds is extremely difficult to prove because they are so weak. They are collections of extremely tiny particles spread over an enormous surface that even looks out over the Earth, but they are there.

These "moons", as some call them, are obviously not moons as you normally think. These are just huge clouds of dust trapped in Earth's orbit. They are many times larger than the Earth itself, but you can not see them with the naked eye because too little light is reflected by the tiny particles and reaches our planet.

The big puffs of space dust have been named "Kordylewski clouds", which is a nod to astronomer Kazimierz Kordylewski, the first to claim to have spotted them in 1961. Even after this discovery , the existence of clouds has been debated, but they have now been detected with certainty, proving that the scientist who died in 1981 is accurate.

"Kordylewski's clouds are two of the most difficult objects to find, and although they are as close to Earth as the moon, they are largely ignored by astronomers," said Judit Slíz-Balogh. , co-author of the new study, in a statement. declaration. "It's intriguing to confirm that our planet has dusty pseudo-satellites in orbit alongside our lunar neighbor."

The existence of dust clouds does not mean much to you and me, but it illuminates the dynamics of Earth's orbit. The points where dust is trapped are known as Larange points, and scientists believe that such places could be the best places to place space stations or satellites for long-term use.