Definitions for "CRUITHNE"
Cruithne is an asteroid about 3 miles (5 kilometres) in diameter that is co-orbital with the Earth, which means that it shares roughly the same orbit as the Earth. It is a Near-Earth asteroid (NEA 3753). From the Earth, it appears to have a horseshoe-shaped orbit; it gets close to the Earth, then it moves away again. It's orbit is highly inclined to Earth's orbit. At its closest approach (which happens ever 100,000 years, Cruithne comes to within 10 million miles (15 million km) of Earth (40 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon). Cruithne was named for the first Celtic tribal group that settled in the British Isles. Cruithne was discovered on October 10, 1986 by D. Waldron at Siding Spring Observatory, Coonabarabran, Australia.