2023 FW13

2023 FW13
Discovery [1]
Discovered byPan-STARRS
Discovery siteHaleakala Observatory
Discovery date28 March 2023
Designations
2023 FW13
Orbital characteristics [2]
Epoch 26 February 2023 (JD 2460000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc10.86 yr (3,967 d)
Aphelion1.1781 AU
Perihelion0.8225 AU
1.0003 AU
Eccentricity0.1777
1.0005 yr (365.42 days)
73.09°
0° 59m 6.601s / day
Inclination2.7441°
70.557°
354.40°
Earth MOID.0454762 AU (6,803,140 km; 17.6979 LD)
Physical characteristics

2023 FW13 is an asteroid that was spotted on March 28, 2023, from the Pan-STARRS telescope at Hawaii, United States. It circles the sun in sync with Earth in such a way that it appears to orbit Earth, but well outside Earth's Hill sphere, making it a quasi-satellite.[3]

The orbit of 2023 FW13 has a one-to-one resonance with Earth and is very eccentric, reaching out halfway to Mars and halfway to Venus.[4] It's estimated that it has circled Earth since 100 B.C. and will continue until 3700 A.D. If those estimates are correct, it would significantly overtake 469219 Kamoʻoalewa as the most stable quasi-satellite of Earth.[4]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference MPC-object was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference jpldata was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Kuthunur, Sharmila (12 April 2023). "Newfound asteroid is a long-term 'quasi-moon' of Earth". Space.com. Archived from the original on 20 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Chandler, David. "DOES EARTH HAVE A NEW QUASI-MOON?". Archived from the original on 14 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.