 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Duncan Waldron |
| Discovery date | 10 October 1986 |
| Designations | |
| (3753) Cruithne | |
| Pronunciation | English: /kruˈiːnjə/ kroo-EEN-yə[1] Irish: [ˈkɾˠɪ(h)nʲə, ˈkɾˠʊnʲə] |
Named after | Cruthin |
| 1983 UH; 1986 TO | |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 16087 days (44.04 yr) |
| Aphelion | 1.5114 AU (226,100,000 km) |
| Perihelion | 0.48405 AU (72,413,000 km) |
| 0.99774 AU (149,260,000 km) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.51485 (213000 wrt Earth)[3] |
| 1.00 yr (364.02 d) | |
Average orbital speed | 27.73 km/s |
| 257.46° | |
| 0° 59m 20.436s / day | |
| Inclination | 19.805° |
| 126.23° | |
| 43.831° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.07119 AU (10,650,000 km) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| ~5 km | |
| Mass | 1.3×1014 kg |
| 27.30990 h (1.137913 d)[2] | |
| 0.15 | |
| Q | |
| 15.6[2] | |
3753 Cruithne is a Q-type, Aten asteroid in orbit around the Sun in 1:1 orbital resonance with Earth, making it a co-orbital object. It is an asteroid that, relative to Earth, orbits the Sun in a bean-shaped orbit that effectively describes a horseshoe, and that can change into a quasi-satellite orbit.[4] Cruithne does not orbit Earth and at times it is on the other side of the Sun,[5] placing Cruithne well outside of Earth's Hill sphere. Its orbit takes it near the orbit of Mercury and outside the orbit of Mars.[5] Cruithne orbits the Sun in about one Earth year, but it takes 770 years for the series to complete a horseshoe-shaped movement around Earth.[5]
The name Cruithne is from Irish and refers to the early Picts (Old Irish: Cruthin) in the Annals of Ulster[5] and their eponymous king ("Cruidne, son of Cinge") in the Pictish Chronicle.
- ^ For instance, on the British television show Q.I. (Episode 2, Season 1; aired 11 Sept 2003).
- ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference
jpldatawas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
geocentricwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Christou, A. A.; Asher, D. J. (2011). "A long-lived horseshoe companion to the Earth". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 414 (4): 2965. arXiv:1104.0036. Bibcode:2011MNRAS.414.2965C. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.18595.x. S2CID 13832179.
- ^ a b c d Cruithne: Asteroid 3753 Archived 2012-03-02 at the Wayback Machine. Western Washington University Planetarium. Retrieved 27 January 2011.