Astronomers in Tucson, Ariz., earlier this month reportedly discovered a temporary natural satellite orbiting Earth.
The circling “mini-moon” is actually a small asteroid named 2020 CD3, according to an NBC News report.
The asteroid was officially recognized and indexed by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center on Tuesday.
Kacper Wierzchos, a researcher affiliated with the Catalina Sky Survey at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Lab, confirmed the details on Wednesday about the orbiting object detected earlier this month.
BIG NEWS (thread 1/3). 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. Here are the discovery images. pic.twitter.com/zLkXyGAkZl
— Kacper Wierzchos (@WierzchosKacper) February 26, 2020
Wierzchos said the asteroid is about six feet to 11 feet across, with research suggesting that the object entered Earth’s orbit nearly three years ago.
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Astronomers have discovered Earth has new "mini moon" in its orbit https://t.co/Ujy5gkARgE pic.twitter.com/B9iuMxeNMM
— The Hill (@thehill) February 27, 2020
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