Do you want to bookmark your favorite articles and stories to read or refer to later? Start your independent membership today. Join today Already a member? A new “Lilliputian” minimoon is orbiting Earth after falling into our planet’s gravitational pull. Asteroid 2026 QQ8 became trapped in Earth’s gravity in April and has entered an orbit around the planet. First detected by Hungarian astronomer Kriztián Sárneczky, who is a prolific asteroid hunter, the new moon will complete one and a half revolutions before escaping in 2027. Mr. Sárneczky first observed the space rock in August, but it has recently been reported by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center. The asteroid typically orbits the Sun every 359 days, according to a reconstruction of its orbital path, and approaches Earth about every 10 years. The closest it will get to Earth during its brief orbit around our planet will be about 568,000 kilometers (353,000 miles), which is about 1.5 times the average distance between the Moon and Earth. With a diameter of around 2 meters, asteroid 2026 QQ8 poses no risk to Earth as it would likely be destroyed by the atmosphere if it were on a direct collision course. It’s not unusual for Earth to have small pieces of space rock falling into its orbit, and a study from last year suggests there could be up to six temporary mini-moons around Earth at any given time. Many of the minimoons could be part of the real Moon, which shoots into space after an impact event. How can a minimoon form after an asteroid impact with the Moon (Cell) One such minimoon that may have originated on the Moon is Kamo’oalewa, which was discovered in 2016 when the 40-meter asteroid became a quasi-satellite of Earth. “Its spectrum closely resembles that of space-weathered lunar samples, suggesting a lunar origin for Kamo’oalewa,” the study authors wrote. “OCTs typically have a lifespan of between 1 and 10 million years, although some persist for up to 150 million years.
