New ‘mini moon’ found orbiting the Earth

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2020 05:05:15 +0000

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) –  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 1.9-3.5 meters (6-11 feet) in diameter — was observed by researchers Kacper Wierzchos and Teddy Pruyne at the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona on the night of February 15.

“BIG NEWS. Earth has a new temporarily captured object/Possible mini-moon called 2020 CD3,” likely to be a C-type asteroid, Wierzchos tweeted on Wednesday.

The astronomer said it was a “big deal” as “this is just the second asteroid known to orbit Earth (after 2006 RH120, which was also discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey).”

Its route suggests it entered Earth’s orbit three years ago, he said.

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Minor Planet Center, which collects data on minor planets and asteroids, in an announcement said “no link to a known artificial object has been found,” implying it was likely an asteroid captured by Earth’s gravity.

“Orbit integrations indicate that this object is temporarily bound to th
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