Produced by: BusinessToday Desk
Earth just gained a new celestial companion — asteroid 2025 PN7, now officially named Arjuna. It’s not a true moon, but it’s been shadowing our planet for decades in a quiet orbital duet.
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Unlike mini-moons that Earth briefly captures, Arjuna follows its own solar orbit almost identical to ours, making it a quasi-satellite. Think of it as Earth’s cosmic neighbor, not a live-in partner.
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Scientists describe Arjuna’s orbit as “a dance without holding hands.” It circles the Sun in sync with Earth, swaying closer and farther over time — an elegant waltz in space since the 1960s.
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2025 PN7 belongs to the rare Arjuna asteroids — slow movers with Earth-like paths. These objects form a subtle secondary asteroid belt that shadows our planet, hidden in plain sight.
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Arjuna isn’t trapped by Earth’s gravity. Instead, it stays nearby in a delicate balance, pulled gently by both the Earth and Sun — a cosmic tightrope act that could last until the 2080s.
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Its story echoes that of 1991 VG, the first known quasi-moon once mistaken for an alien probe. Today, astronomers see these mysterious orbiters as natural relics of our Solar System’s formation.
Arjuna joins a small but fascinating group of Earth’s companions — Kamo‘oalewa (2016 HO3), Cardea (2004 GU9), and 2023 FW13 — all silently looping around us in gravitational rhythm.
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For scientists, studying Arjuna isn’t just about one rock. It’s about understanding the invisible choreography of near-Earth space — how asteroids interact, drift, and dance with our planet.
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As we celebrate another moon in our orbiting family, Arjuna reminds us: space is never still. Even when unseen, the Earth’s gravitational heartbeat continues to shape the dance of the cosmos.
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