Earth gets a new ‘mini-moon’

Earth will gain a “mini-moon” for the next two months when it captures an asteroid in its gravitational pull. Asteroid 2024PT5, a smallish rock about 10 meters (30 feet) in diameter, will make one complete orbit of the Earth — significantly further out than our usual moon, even at its closest point — from Sep. 29, before sailing off into the distance again 53 days later.

The Earth has gained new mini-moons before, sometimes for extended periods: Two confirmed examples are a 10-foot-wide asteroid that orbited us for a year from 2006 to 2007, and another, even smaller rock believed to have been around for three or four years before leaving in 2020.