Earth has acquired a second ‘mini-moon’ about the size of a car, according to astronomers who spotted the object circling our planet. The mass – roughly 6-11 feet in diameter – was observed by researchers Kacper Wierzchos and Teddy Pruyne at the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona (U.S.).
This is the second asteroid known to orbit Earth. The only other asteroid, 2006 RHI20, rotated around Earth from September 2006 to June 2007.
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Minor Planet Center, which collects data on minor planets and asteroids, said “no link to a known artificial object has been found,” implying it was likely an asteroid captured by Earth’s gravity.
Earth’s new neighbor is not in a stable orbit around the planet and is unlikely to be around for very long. It is already heading away from the Earth-moon system, and was likely to escape in April.
Picture Credit : Google