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Astronomers took a good look at a “minimaon” that briefly orbited our planet earlier this year, before disappearing into space.
The first known low, 2006 RH120, was detected 14 years ago and the 2020 CD3 object is only the second ever sighted.
The ‘Minimoons’ are only a few feet wide and each tends to spend a few months in orbit before resuming their previous lives as asteroids.
The scientists observed the object using the Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT) and say it is definitely an asteroid, not a piece of rogue space junk.
The team published the findings today in the Astronomical Journal.
Read more: The mysterious “rogue planet” may be even stranger than we thought
Lowell Observatory astronomer Nick Moskovitz said: “This object was not bright enough to be studied for a long time. The fact that we have this telescope in our backyard and we were able to respond quickly made a real difference.” .
The study estimates that the CD3 is about 3-5 feet in diameter – about the size of a small car – and that it came about 8,100 miles from Earth at the closest approach.
It’s also a moon, not a piece of space junk, unlike another supposed “minimaon” spotted this year.
Grigori Fedorets of Queen’s University Belftast said: “Minimaons are expected to be discovered in large numbers over the next decade, with the opening of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory expected in 2023”.
“Rotation speed was probably the biggest unanswered question in this research. Lowell’s team showed that it rotates slower than expected for objects in this size range.”
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Another mini-moon expected to pass over Earth this year may be slightly different, as experts have suggested that it’s not a moon at all, but man-made space junk.
Specifically, it could be a discarded part of a rocket launched in 1966, experts suggested.
The tiny object, known as the 2020 SO, was spotted by Pan-STARRS1 at the Haleakala Observatory on September 17, 2020, reports ScienceAlert.
Read more: What are fast radio bursts and why do they look like aliens?
It will be captured from Earth this October and will pass close to Earth in December 2020 and February 2021, Sky reports.
It will continue to orbit our planet until May next year.
Alice Gorman of Flinders University in Australia says several measurements on 2020 SO suggest it is not an asteroid, in an interview with Science Alert.
Gorman said: “The speed appears to be great. What I see is that it is moving too slowly, which reflects its initial speed. This is essentially a great gift.”
Gorman says these signs suggest the object may be space junk.
Astronomer Paul Chodas has suggested that the object is a Surveyor 2 Centaur rocket body, launched on September 20, 1966.
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