Asteroid 2020 CD3 temporarily turned into a natural satellite of the Earth. This is stated in the message of the Center for minor planets of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
Object 2020 CD3 is an almost unexplored asteroid. It was discovered by Teddy Praine and Kuchper Vezhkhos as part of a survey on Mount Lemmon on February 15, 2020. The Center of Minor Planets announced the discovery of the asteroid on February 25 – according to scientists, the object will become the second temporary natural satellite of the Earth after RH 120, which was discovered in 2006.
2020 CD3 has an absolute value of about 32, which indicates that its size is very small. The diameter of the asteroid is 1 to 6 m. The orbit of its rotation around the Earth looks like this:
Integrations of orbits indicate that this object is temporarily attached to the Earth. No signs of disturbances caused by pressure from solar radiation were found, no connection with a known artificial object was found.
The object belongs to the group of asteroids of Cupids or Apollo. Now scientists are continuing to study the object to clarify the orbit of its rotation and composition.
