Question

Earth will get a second moon for two months

Comments

The main claim of this article is not completely untrue, although it is misleading. The asteroid 2024 PT5 was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, and will orbit the Earth during September and November and appear as if Earth has a second moon. However, further research via the ATLAS and NASA websites does not indicate that the asteroid will be a moon or have the same properties as Earth’s moon.

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This is a great detailed response.

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This source is missing critical information like, the object's size, details about its composition, information about its origin, an explanation of how it was discovered and some mention of the uncertainty in the calculations.

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This is a very vague response following a misleading argument. The article talks about an object that will orbit the country for a little while but is nothing close to a moon.

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Your fact check on the asteroid 2024 PT5 is mostly accurate, but it could be clearer. You mentioned that the asteroid will appear as if Earth has a second moon, which is misleading. According to NASA and ATLAS, 2024 PT5 will not be captured by Earth’s gravity and will remain about nine times farther away from Earth than the Moon. This means it won’t have the same properties or appearance as Earth’s moon. It would be helpful to clarify this distinction to avoid misconceptions. Additionally, while you did a good job referencing ATLAS and NASA, it would strengthen your argument to include specific data or quotes from these sources. For example, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory provides detailed information about the asteroid’s orbit around the Sun, which supports your point that it won’t orbit Earth. Including this information would make your fact check more robust and informative. Overall, your fact check is well-researched, but adding these details would improve its clarity and accuracy.

Answer 1

The CBS article claims that “Earth will get a second “mini-moon” for 2 months this year”. When examining the origin, the author Caitlin O’Kane seems to be a reliable author who has written numerous articles for well-established news outlets and works as a senior manager of content and production at CBS. When searching CBS News on Media Bias Fact Check, the outlet is reported as highly factual, with proper sourcing and no recorded failed fact checks for over the past five years. However, the term “mini-moon” is misleading, as the object is identified by NASA to be an asteroid, named 2024 PT5. While the asteroid will orbit the Earth for a projected 56.6 days, this does not make it a moon. The terminology used by CBS, while it is in quotations in the title, is still misleading and inaccurate to the scientific truth. Though CBS News reports verified facts about 2024 PT5, citing NASA, a highly credible source for space research, the use of the term mini-moon is misleading. When searching for NASA information about the asteroid, outlets such as the NASA blog never referred to 2024 PT5 as a mini-moon, maintaining strictly scientifically accurate terminology. However, when copying the CBS News title into the search bar, many similar articles appeared that also referred to the asteroid as a mini-moon. Outlets such as Live Science, USA Today, Phys.org, and BBC all used the term mini-moon in their titles, only clarifying that the subject mentioned is an asteroid further into the article. Therefore, the CBS News article, and other similar articles, are misleading their audiences by purposefully misusing scientific terms. The difference between news reporting outlets and scientific records such as NASA pages highlights how popular news is often more exaggerated and upheld to less strict standards on its adherence to scientific accuracy. 

Caitlin O'Kane - CBS News

CBS News - Bias and Credibility - Media Bias/Fact Check

Earth will get a second "mini-moon" for 2 months this year - CBS News

NASA to Track Asteroid 2024 PT5 on Next Close Pass, January 2025 – Planetary Defense

Earth's new 'mini-moon' will orbit our planet for the next 2 months | Live Science

'Mini-moon' to join Earth's orbit for nearly 2 months, study finds

Earth to have new mini-moon for two months

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3dvxgrmk95o

Answer 2

Your claim that Earth will get a second moon is misleading. While it is true that is true earth temporarily caught a second moon an astroid called 2024 pt5 this "moon" will be in orbit  starting from September,29,2024 and end on November 25th.

https://www.space.com/earth-will-capture-second-moon-sept-2024