In the coming days, Earth will have a second moon for a limited time, but it won't exactly be the moon that lights up the night.
An asteroid will come close enough to Earth to temporarily enter its orbit later this month, in a phenomenon dubbed a "mini-moon," according to astronomers. The asteroid, which was discovered by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on August 7, from the Arjuna asteroid belt, entered Earth's orbit on September 29 and will continue to orbit the Earth for about two months until November 25.
Researchers at the Earth Impact Last Alert System – a NASA-funded program – discovered the asteroid using an instrument in Sutherland, South Africa, and named it 2024 PT5.
But will people be able to see this second moon?
Unfortunately, people on Earth will not be able to see the second moon because, compared to the size of Earth's moon, the asteroid is small, about 10 meters long.
