Lagrange points are stable points in space where objects can remain in a fixed position relative to a planet orbiting the Sun. Earth has five Lagrange points, including L1 and L2, which are ideal for space stations. L4 and L5 contain interplanetary dust and are called Trojan points. L3 is on the opposite side of the Sun and is where Theia is thought to have formed, colliding with Earth and forming the Moon.
Lagrange points are gravitational stable points in space where an object could be placed and would remain in a fixed position relative to a body orbiting the Sun, such as the Earth. Every planet in orbit has five Lagrange points. The Lagrange points of the Earth are called L1, L2, L3, L4 and L5. These spots often feature in discussions of space or science fiction because they would be ideal places to build space stations.
Of the Lagrange points, L1 and L2 lie closest to the planet, only 1.5 million km (930,000 mi) closer to the Sun and farther from the Sun than the Earth, respectively. This is about five times as far from Earth as the Moon and would require a trip of about two weeks in a modern spacecraft. As the Earth rotates around the Sun, these two points rotate around the Sun with it, always staying in the same place relative to the planet. These stable orbits are considered as places to deploy satellites observing the Earth-Moon system.
Two additional points – L4 and 5 – are on either side of the Earth from the Sun, lie 60° in front of the Earth and 60° behind the Earth in its orbit around the Sun, and contain interplanetary dust. The Earth-Moon system also has these spots, which may contain interplanetary dust clustered in what are called Kordylewski clouds. L4 and 5 in the Sun-Earth system are also called triangular Lagrange points or Troy points. The latter name comes from the Trojan asteroids at the L4 and L5 Sun-Jupiter points. Each planet has its own Trojan points, and the larger the planet, the more interstellar dust will be trapped in them.
The last Lagrange point is L3. This point is located farthest from Earth, on the opposite side of the Sun. Until the development of interplanetary probes that could travel to areas of the solar system outside the Earth and Moon, L3 could never be observed due to its location . This has led some mystics to postulate the existence of an “anti-Earth” there, although this has proven to be false. Billions of years ago, a Mars-sized object called Theia is thought to have formed in L3. Its orbit became unstable, until it collided with the Earth. The impact was so great that it ejected millions of cubic kilometers of molten magma into orbit. This cooled and became the Moon.
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