Earth will have a temporary ‘mini moon’ for two months

Question

Will Earth have a temporary mini-moon for two months?

Answer 1

In the original article from AP news, the author Christina Larson claims that there will be a temporary "mini moon" in the earths atmosphere for two months. The article claims that a 33 foot asteroid that will pass Earth on Sunday and "will be temporarily trapped by our planets gravity and orbit the globe- but only for about two months." Every other reliable news source that I checked (NBC, CNN, NPR) backed up this claim and used the same wording by calling the asteroid a "mini moon." In the NBC article, author Denise Chow sites two astronomers in Spain as the discoverers of the "mini moon" while the NPR article written by Michael Levitt described the movement of the asteroid as a horseshoe. The only thing the article seem to disagree with is how big the asteroid is. NBC reports that the "mini moon" is 33 feet while the CNN article written by Ashley Strickland reports that it could be "anywhere from 16 to 138 feet." Essentially, the original claim by AP news is correct, based on very similar reporting from three other credible news sources. Is it an actual moon? No, but from what is being reported in these articles, the term "mini moon" is common when talking about phenomenons like this so technically speaking, the claim is true. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/mini-moon-asteroid-to-orbit-earth-temporarily-rcna172264

https://www.npr.org/2024/09/21/nx-s1-5121914/mini-moon-earth-asteroid

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/20/science/earth-asteroid-mini-moon/index.html

Comments

This is a very thorough factcheck and I am glad you checked many different sources to back your answer. Also, the claim about the size of the asteroid is good to note because we do not actually know the exact size of the asteroid because it is floating out in space. This is definitely true as well "mini moons" are very cool and exciting.

Answer 2

While this headline is compelling, it seems to be true but exaggerated. The "mini-moon" will be in orbit with us for about 2 months and then it will get pushed out of our orbit again. It will only be visible to people with the proper equipment, meaning scientists and researchers. An average telescope and the human eye will not be enough to see this "second moon" so it will go largely unnoticed but it is still a cool and interesting phenomena that seems like it will become more noticed about its existence to the public due to its news coverage. These "mini-moons" have appeared before and will appear again, and will likely get more news coverage in the future.

https://www.scrippsnews.com/science-and-tech/space/earth-will-temporarily-have-a-second-moon-scientists-say

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

https://www.earth.com/news/its-official-earth-now-has-two-moons-captured-asteroid-2024-pt5/

Comments

I agree with this answer, good job using outside sources and placing an emphasis on the context of claim. I also think it is worthwhile to mention that the term 'mini-moon' itself is somewhat misleading, it might be more accurate to say 'natural satellies.' My only comment on the fact-check itself is that earth.com is not generally regarded as a 'highly accurate source,' but tends to combine factual information with opinionated ones. Overall a well thought-out response.

Answer 3

This article is indeed true to some extent but it may not be possible to see the actual "second moon". It has an intriguing title to catch your attention, but the fact of the matter is you would need a research-grade telescope to see it. The telescope used was at South African Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town Africa. I couldn't find anything about what specific telescope they used, but they currently have four telescopes in use. One is called "SALT" and is the largest single-optic telescope in the Western Hemisphere so one could assume that was used to view the second moon.

https://www.saao.ac.za/explore/our-telescopes/salt/

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/ad781f

Answer 4

The earth will have a mini-moon, it's true! Unfortunately, the article title is quite dramatic as the "mini-moon" isn't visible to the human eye and isn't all that rare (the last time it happened was 2020). So, although truthfully, the article is exaggerated.

Comments

Do you have a source for your fact-check? Always mention it within your fact-checks and list the source hyperlinks too. Thanks!

Answer 5

This claim is accurate. Multiple news sources have reported on this discovery, often with similar titles and information. While some articles may present the details more clearly, this one provides correct information regarding the size, expected arrival date, and discoverer of the "mini moon."

It's important to note that this object is an asteroid, not a moon. It's also too small to be visible to the naked eye.

sources: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/ad781f https://www.npr.org/2024/09/21/nx-s1-5121914/mini-moon-earth-asteroid

Answer 6

This article title is interesting but is misleading because although we will have a "mini moon" in our atmosphere it will not be able to be seen by the naked eye. The article states “This happens with some frequency, but we rarely see them because they’re very small and very hard to detect,” he said. “Only recently has our survey capability reached the point of spotting them routinely.” In order to even see the mini moon you will need a extremely strong telescope. SciencetificAmerican.com is a peer reviewed source that states, "a mini-moon-studying astronomer at Spain’s Complutense University of Madrid, told Space.com that you’d need a telescope at least 30 inches (76.2 centimeters) in diameter paired with a digital detector to image the object". This shows that you will not be able to see the "mini moon" at all unless you have access to a strong telescope because of this the title is clickbait and misleading.