Earth's SECOND MOON?!

Go check out the nearest scientific book. It will tell you that Earth just has one moon. One. Uno. A singular chunk of rock that keeps orbiting our planet. 

But is it really just one?

Well, we might have spent years debating whether Pluto was a planet or not a planet, a dwarf planet or just another white-hearted celestial object, but guess what? During that time, Earth was living a sneaky narrative of its own. 

Yup, I guess Earth is (sort of, temporarily) two-timing Moons right now.

How is that possible? Did the books get it wrong then?

Not really. Let's find out!

2025 PN7: Earth's Second Moon

Everyone's talking about it - it's all over the headlines, I'm calling it the Earth's second moon - but what exactly is it? 

It's a near-Earth asteroid about 15-30 meters in diameter (around 10-18 people stacked on top of each other) known as an Arjuna asteroid. According to models, it's been in a stable orbit for 60 years and will remain for a few more decades. It was first observed in August this year, by the Pan-STARRS Hawai‘i’s Haleakalā Observatory.

Hawai‘i’s Haleakalā Observatory

Quasi-Moon

As the name suggests, it's an almost moon. The reason behind this is that it's not bound to the Earth gravitationally. It's a body that shares the orbit with the planet, remains relatively close to it on cosmic timescales but is still invisible to the naked eye.

2 Moons till 2083

Yup, we've got an expiry date for the amount of time we have a second moon. And till 2083, NASA models suggest that our 'second moon' will be co-orbiting with our moon. 

So, the next time you look up at the night sky, remember that somewhere far off is a tiny space rock giving our moon company.