What is the largest object orbiting Earth?
The International Space Station (108m long) is currently the next biggest object in orbit around the Earth after the Moon. After that, it’s the Hubble Space Telescope (13m long). After that, you’re looking at some of the larger Geostationary communications and monitoring satellites.
What is the largest natural satellite orbiting Earth?
The Moon
Other natural satellites in our Solar System
| Natural satellite | Satellite of | Orbital speed (average) |
|---|---|---|
| The Moon | Earth | 1.0 km/s |
| Io | Jupiter | 17.33 km/s |
| Europa | Jupiter | 13.74 km/s |
| Ganymede (Solar System’s largest moon) | Jupiter | 10.88 km/s |
Is there anything else orbiting the Earth?
Although the Moon is Earth’s only natural satellite, there are a number of near-Earth objects (NEOs) with orbits that are in resonance with Earth. These have been called “second” moons of Earth. 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, an asteroid discovered on 27 April 2016, is possibly the most stable quasi-satellite of Earth.
What is the second largest object that orbits the earth?
3753 Cruithne
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Eccentricity | 0.51485 (213000 wrt Earth) |
| Orbital period | 1.00 yr (364.02 d) |
| Average orbital speed | 27.73 km/s |
| Mean anomaly | 257.46° |
Is the moon Earth’s largest satellite?
The Moon is Earth’s only natural satellite. At about one-quarter the diameter of Earth (comparable to the width of Australia), it is the largest natural satellite in the Solar System relative to the size of its planet, the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System overall, and is larger than any known dwarf planet.
What is the biggest moon in the universe?
Ganymede
One of Jupiter’s moons, Ganymede, is the largest moon in the Solar System. Ganymede has a diameter of 3270 miles (5,268 km) and is larger than the planet Mercury. It has a rocky core with a water/ice mantle and a crust of rock and ice.