Earth to get second 'moon' for two months

The Earth is set to temporarily have another "moon" for two months.

According to a report by TIME Magazine, astronomers are estimating that 2024 PT5 will be the moon's lunar-like neighbor starting Sept. 29 before it leaves the Earth's gravitational orbit on Nov. 25. It will, however, be barely visible as it would measure only around 10 meters or 33 feet.

The space rock was spotted by NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System in August. In the Research Notes of the AAS journal, researchers Carlos and Raul de la Fuente Marcos stated that the planet "can regularly capture asteroids from the Near-Earth object (NEO) population and pull them into orbit, making them mini-moons."

The New York Times reported that mini-moons are called such as they are known to be asteroids that don't get to break free from the Earth's gravitational pull and orbit it for a period of time.

"Every time an object with an orbit so Earth-like is discovered, there is a chance that we are just recovering space debris," Raul told NYT, but noted that 2024 PT5 is a "natural object."

Paul Chodas, who serves as the director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, pointed out that the tiny asteroid is "possibly a piece of ejecta from an impact on the moon."

Lance Benner, who is also part of the said research program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said that he's still "not sure" if 2024 PT5 will be classified as a "mini-moon" as it "certainly won't complete one full revolution in the Earth-moon system" and will only perform an orbit shaped like a horseshoe.