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Space
Space
Science
Robert Lea

Goodnight moon! Astronomers snap photo of Earth's departing mini-moon

A black and white field of view with a faint white dot in red crosshairs.

A temporary mini-moon snared by Earth's gravity for nearly two months before departing back into the solar system can be seen in a new image from the Two-Meter Twin Telescope in Spain.

The near-Earth asteroid (NEO) 2024 PT5 was snared by the gravitational influence of our planet on Sept. 29, 2024. From the start of its occupancy, scientists studying this "second moon," including Carlos de la Fuente Marcos of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, were aware that this would be a "temporary capture" lasting no longer than a few weeks.

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