An asteroid trailing after Mars could actually be the stolen twin of our moon

[Judi Lynn]

By Peter Dockrill - ScienceAlert an hour ago



(Image: © NASA/Moon Trek/USGS/LRO)
The asteroid in question, called (101429) 1998 VF31, is part of a group of trojan asteroids sharing the orbit of Mars.

Trojans are celestial bodies that fall into gravitationally balanced regions of space in the vicinity of other planets, located 60 degrees in front of and behind the planet.

Most of the trojan asteroids we know about share Jupiter's orbit, but other planets have them too, including Mars and Earth too.

What makes (101429) 1998 VF31 (hereafter '101429') interesting is that among the Red Planet's trailing trojans (the ones that follow behind Mars as it orbits the Sun), 101429 appears to be unique.

The rest of the group, called the L5 Martian Trojans, all belong to what's known as the Eureka family, consisting of 5261 Eureka – the first Mars trojan discovered – and a bunch of small fragments believed to have come loose from their parent space rock.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/asteroid-trailing-mars-could-be-moon-stolen-twin.html

[House of Roberts]

1. Or, it could be the lost moon of Poosh!