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Trojan asteroid seen in Earth's orbit by Wise telescope
Page last updated at 03:01 GMT, Thursday, July 28, 2011 - 08:01 EST
BBC:
2010 TK7 traces a complex path at its orbital point, moving above and below the plane of the Earth's...
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Astronomers have detected an asteroid not far from Earth, moving in the same orbit around the Sun.
The 200-300m-wide rock sits in front of our planet at a gravitational "sweet spot", and poses no danger.
Its position in the sky makes it a so-called Trojan asteroid - a type previously detected only at Jupiter, Neptune and Mars.
2010 TK7, as it is known, was found by Nasa's Wise telescope. The discovery is reported in this week's Nature journal.
It is a fascinating observation because the relative stability and proximity of Trojans would make possible targets for astronaut missions when we eventually go beyond the space station.
2010 TK7 is probably not the rock of choice, simply because it travels too far above and below the plane of Earth's orbit, which would require a lot of fuel to reach it.
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