Astronomers have discovered Earth has new ‘mini-moon’ in its orbit

Astronomers in Tucson, Ariz., earlier this month reportedly discovered a temporary natural satellite orbiting Earth.

The circling “mini-moon” is actually a small asteroid named 2020 CD3, according to an NBC News report.

The asteroid was officially recognized and indexed by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center on Tuesday.

Kacper Wierzchos, a researcher affiliated with the Catalina Sky Survey at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Lab, confirmed the details on Wednesday about the orbiting object detected earlier this month.

BIG NEWS (thread 1/3). Earth has a new temporarily captured object/Possible mini-moon called 2020 CD3. On the night of Feb. 15, my Catalina Sky Survey teammate Teddy Pruyne and I found a 20th magnitude object. Here are the discovery images. pic.twitter.com/zLkXyGAkZl

— Kacper Wierzchos (@WierzchosKacper) February 26, 2020

Wierzchos said the asteroid is about six feet to 11 feet across, with research suggesting that the object entered Earth’s orbit nearly three years ago.

Wierzchos noted that out of 1 million known space rocks, the only other one to become a temporary Earth moon was 2006 RH120, a discovery also made by Catalina Sky Survey. It was caught in orbit in June 2006 and did not escape until September 2007, throwing itself back out into the solar system.

Astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey will continue monitoring the new miniature moon.