Over the past few weeks, you’ve probably heard somewhere that Earth was going to get a second moon. Well, we can now confirm that Earth now offi

It's official: Earth now has two moons

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2024-10-05 10:30:03

Over the past few weeks, you’ve probably heard somewhere that Earth was going to get a second moon. Well, we can now confirm that Earth now officially has two moons after capturing asteroid 2024 PT5.

This intriguing event was first spotted by astronomers at the Complutense University of Madrid. Richard Binzel, an astronomer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), shared some insights about these celestial visitors.

“These happen with some frequency, but we rarely see them because they’re very small and very hard to detect,” Binzel said. “Only recently has our survey capability reached the point of spotting them routinely.”

Using a powerful telescope located in Sutherland, South Africa, the team from Complutense University detected the small space rock back in August.

Mini-moons like 2024 PT5 are small asteroids that Earth’s gravity grabs for a bit, letting them orbit our planet before they move on.