"It didn't seem to be any different than the other near-Earth asteroids that we discover," Dr. Wierzchos said, "except that it was found to be orbiting Earth instead of the sun."
If the discovery holds up, the object, named 2020 CD3 for now, would be the second mini-moon ever found.
The solar system is full of primordial crumbs, most of which circle the sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Sometimes, Jupiter's gravitational influence sends those space rocks careening toward the inner solar system, where some could threaten Earth. While they orbit near us, they don't orbit us . That's what makes 2020 CD3 so rare. Around 18 months to a year ago, the Earth-moon system's gravity captured the tiny rock in an orbital dance.
Many things are taking place:
An Orbital Rendezvous Demonstrates a Space Junk Solution - The New York Times
"This is the first time in history a docking has been performed with a satellite that was not pre-designed with docking in mind," Joe Anderson, a vice president at SpaceLogistics, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, said during a telephone news conference on Wednesday.
The company built the robotic Mission Extension Vehicle-1, or MEV-1, which was launched in October on top of a Russian Proton rocket. Over the past few months, it has made its way to more than 22,000 miles above Earth's surface, just above what is known as geosynchronous orbit. Its target was Intelsat 901, an 18-year-old communications satellite that is working fine but running low on fuel.
Watch Seattle students chat with orbiting NASA astronaut Jessica Meir about socks in space
Hundreds of middle-school and high-school students will gather at Seattle's Museum of Flight on Monday to chat with NASA astronaut Jessica Meir on the International Space Station while the world watches on the Web.
Eriksmoen: Doctor who grew up in N.D. kept orbiting astronauts healthy | Jamestown Sun
Other things to check out:
How to clean up the mess we've made that's orbiting the Earth | TheHill
We've been shooting large metal objects into space since 1957. Satellites, rockets, space stations, missiles. So it's no wonder that a garbage truck is set to launch in 2025 to start cleaning up the mess.
The pioneering ClearSpace device is designed to locate, capture and remove large items that threaten to crash into the satellites orbiting the planet. The problem, experts say, is that there's probably more than 34,000 pieces of space junk larger that 10 centimeters — and all of it is a hazard.
The 9@9: Southtown business owner to rebuild after fire; 'Mini moon' orbiting around Earth
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The 9@9 features some of the biggest stories making headlines at home, around the country and across the globe. Here's are some of the headlines trending tonight:
Earth has pulled a tiny 'mini moon' into temporary orbit
Moon found orbiting near-Earth asteroid | Space | EarthSky
Isn’t this cool? Scientists at the famous Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico made this rare find just days after resuming post-earthquake operations. It’s a moon orbiting the near-Earth asteroid 2020 BX12.
Astronomers used radar to obtain images of asteroid 2020 BX12. They found a smaller object orbiting it. Note the smaller object’s change in position from the February 4, 2020, image to the February 5 image. That shift is due to the little moon’s motion in orbit around the larger asteroid. Image via Arecibo Observatory .
Happening on Twitter
Isang "mini moon" na halos sinlaki ng isang kotse ang nahatak ng gravity ng Earth, ayon sa ilang astronomer. Pero a… https://t.co/YTZcCSf07G gmanews (from Philippines) Fri Feb 28 04:55:41 +0000 2020
Earth's new "mini-moon" is leaving soon. But it'll be back. https://t.co/ihfSywnuol https://t.co/tQmelnyaXS washingtonpost (from Washington, DC) Sat Feb 29 02:14:06 +0000 2020
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