🌅 Earth Has a New Mini-Moon (for Now)

SOURCE

International Astronomical Union

WHAT TO KNOW

• Earth’s gravity has temporarily captured a 6-foot-wide space rock, designated 2026 QQ8. The new mini-moon was first spotted in August 2026 after entering orbit around Earth in April 2026. QQ8 will stick with us through the end of the year before breaking free from Earth’s pull and heading off on its usual path around the Sun sometime in January 2027. It will come within 353,000 miles of the planet at its closest point, around 1.5 times the average distance between the Moon and Earth.

WHY IT MATTERS

• A 2025 study by researchers at the University of Hawaii found as many as six mini-moons may orbit the planet at any given time, most of which stay with us for less than a year. Mini-moons shouldn’t be confused with quasi-moons, which aren’t actually moons at all. Quasi-moons are actually just asteroids orbiting the Sun on a path nearly identical to Earth’s orbit of the Sun, making them look like a moon. Put simply, quasi-moons are gravitationally bound to the Sun, while mini-moons are gravitationally bound to Earth, though only temporarily.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• Every 10 years or so, QQ8’s orbit comes close enough to Earth that it can cross the Hill radius (also called the Hill sphere), the region where Earth’s gravity is dominant despite the Sun’s influence. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Small-Body Database shows QQ8 also came close to Earth’s Hill radius in April 1965, though not close enough to be captured by Earth’s gravitational pull (like it did this year). The same close-but-not-close-enough scenario is expected to repeat in December 2058.