New 'mini-moon' orbiting Earth — for now, astronomers say

nbcnews.com ^ | Feb. 26, 2020 | Denise Chow

[ransomnote]

A visiting mini-moon is circling Earth, according to astronomers who discovered the cosmic squatter in our planet's orbit.

The tiny asteroid, dubbed 2020 CD3, was spotted by astronomers in Tucson, Arizona, on Feb. 15.

"BIG NEWS," Kacper Wierzchos, a researcher with the Catalina Sky Survey at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Lab, tweeted Tuesday. "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."

Wierzchos said that the object measures about 6 feet to 11 feet across and that its orbit suggests that it entered Earth's orbit around three years ago.

MORE AT LINK, INCLUDING VIDEO

[ransomnote]

This is different from the other articles a year or two ago re Earth's extra moons.

Earth has two extra, hidden 'moons' - National Geographic

www.nationalgeographic.com › science › 2018/11 › news-earth-moo...

 

Nov 6, 2018 - Earth's moon may not be alone. After more than half a century of speculation and controversy, Hungarian astronomers and physicists say they ...

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It's also different from the 2016 findings :

Earth has two moons

1,157,304 views

•Jun 18, 2016

Tech Insider

 

2.97M subscribers

 

NASA announced Earth may have another moon. It’s much, much smaller than our original moon. Astronomers spotted it at the asteroid survey telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii. Produced by Matt Stuart and Rebecca Harrington. Read more: http://www.techinsider.io/ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/techinsider TWITTER: https://twitter.com/techinsider INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/tech_insider/ TUMBLR: http://techinsider.tumblr.com/

[genetic homophobe]

Could be Q warned us about Mini...

[HighSierra5]

I’ve got boulders bigger on my hill. Much bigger.

[SuperLuminal]

"... the object measures about 6 feet to 11 feet across and that its orbit suggests that it entered Earth's orbit around three years ago."

Yep... It figures... When we get a better look at it (first week of November) we'll be able to see the MAGA inscription on it's surface...

[Seruzawa]

There’s all kinds of stuff orbiting us in the Lagrange points.

[Yardstick]

6 to 10 feet across? I could eat this thing in two or three sittings, assuming it’s made of cheese, which of course it is.

[Army Air Corps]

Bloomberg’s home planet is searching for him?

[DannyTN]

" 6 to 10 feet across? I could eat this thing in two or three sittings, assuming it’s made of cheese, which of course it is."

"I hope you've got good plumbing. I've been eating a lot of cheese lately. I just can't get enough cheese." - Uncle Buck (John Candy)

[redshawk]

It’s Elon Musk’s car.

[BenLurkin]

[rfp1234]

Bloomberg dropped his pants?

[cgbg]

NASA has named it:

“Katy Turd”

[printhead]

Frank Zappa could have been an astronomer. I’m thinking CD as in Cosmic Debris.

[dragonblustar]

Masser and Secunda.

[Empire_of_Liberty]

“...we’ll be able to see the MAGA inscription on it’s surface... “

Sorry, that’s MEGA, “Make Earth Great Again”.

(I did understand what you meant by the timing, but I thought the moon would have more cosmic ideas.)

[Don W]

with the oil of Aphrodite

and the dust of the Grand Wazoo

[IronJack]

That’s no moon. It’s Rosie O’Donnell ...

[mabarker1]

“Seat 38 on Fido 3, Icepick in the forehead...”

[Larry Lucido]

More like a mini-fridge.

[John Milner]

Probably dropping Coronavirus spores into the Earth’s atmosphere for a while. Just finally got one picked up in China late last year.

It’s an advance biological weapon from an invading race.

Where’s David Vincent when you need him?