Earth set to say goodbye to its ‘mini moon’ that could be a chunk of the real moon
The IndependentSign up for the Independent Women email for the latest news, opinion and features Get the Independent Women email for free Get the Independent Women email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Planet Earth is going separate ways from an asteroid that has spent the last two months floating along as a "mini moon" - with the space rock moving away on Monday. While not technically a moon - Nasa stresses it was never captured by Earth's gravity and fully in orbit - it is "an interesting object" worthy of study. The astrophysicist brothers who identified the asteroid's "mini moon behaviour", Raul and Carlos de la Fuente Marcos of Complutense University of Madrid, have collaborated with telescopes in the Canary Islands for hundreds of observations so far. Nasa will track the asteroid for more than a week in January using the Goldstone solar system radar antenna in California's Mojave Desert, which is part of the Deep Space Network.
History of this topic
Earth’s ‘mini moon’ may have been a chunk of our actual moon
Associated Press
Earth to get a ‘mini moon’ this month, scientists reveal
The Independent
A 'mini-moon' will be visible from Earth for the next two months
NPR
Earth's mini Moon has been circling us for nearly a century, Nasa finds
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