{"id":789401,"date":"2024-09-21T16:24:52","date_gmt":"2024-09-21T21:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=789401"},"modified":"2024-09-21T16:24:52","modified_gmt":"2024-09-21T21:24:52","slug":"a-new-mini-moon-comes-to-earth-this-fall-npr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=789401","title":{"rendered":"A new ‘mini-moon’ comes to Earth this fall : NPR"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n Earth’s moon will have some company for a couple months this fall.
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Jim Watson\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Jim Watson\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Earth will be hosting a new guest this fall.<\/p>\n

No, it’s not an alien. It’s an asteroid.<\/p>\n

The space rock, which has been named \u201c2024 PT5,\u201d has been traveling along its normal path around the sun, but will be temporarily pulled into Earth’s gravitational orbit later this month.<\/p>\n

The object, which is around 33 feet long, was first spotted by researchers in South Africa, who wrote about it in the journal Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society<\/em> this month.<\/p>\n

Some scientists have described 2024 PT5 as a \u201cmini-moon.\u201d<\/p>\n