{"id":234153,"date":"2025-10-23T04:32:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T04:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/234153\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T04:32:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T04:32:10","slug":"exciting-prediction-as-new-moon-discovered-orbiting-close-to-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/234153\/","title":{"rendered":"Exciting prediction as new ‘moon’ discovered orbiting close to Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reports of a second \u201cmoon\u201d <\/a>orbiting the Earth until 2083 have sparked a flurry of excitement this week. But Australian astronomers have revealed the situation is not all that it seems.<\/p>\n

The newly discovered 2025 PN7 is irregular in shape and only around 20 metres wide, and technically a \u201cquasi-moon” or \u201cquasi-satellite\u201d because, unlike our Moon, it doesn\u2019t orbit the Earth.<\/p>\n

Despite this, Monash University astronomer Michael Brown <\/a>told Yahoo News it’s always “amazing” when discoveries like this one “just turn up on your doorstep” and shed new light on the vast mysteries of space.<\/p>\n

Excitingly, he predicts we may even see many more of these quasi-satellites in the future.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Like Earth, 2025 PN7 is orbiting the Sun. Source: NASA<\/p>\n

Can we see the 2025 PN7 from Earth?<\/p>\n

2025 PN7 is much too small to see with the naked eye from Earth, and the detection was made using the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope at Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii. Historical images confirm the rock has been in orbit since at least 2014, but analysis indicates it may have been in this state for 60 years.<\/p>\n

Unlike the Moon, which orbits the Earth, 2025 PN7 is actually orbiting the Sun. Brown said this makes it \u201cquite different\u201d from \u201cconventional ideas\u201d about what a moon is.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we think of our Moon, it\u2019s comparable in [diameter] to Australia. But with [2025 PN7] you could fit several of them onto a football field, so the scale is vastly different,\u201d he told Yahoo News.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis thing is a companion of the Earth, it has a very similar orbit. It at times approaches the Earth but also moves away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Related: Meteorite discovery upends our understanding of life on Earth<\/a><\/p>\n

At least six other ‘quasi-moons’ in orbit close to Earth<\/p>\n

Quasi-satellites are relatively common, with around six others following a similar orbit close to Earth.<\/p>\n

Monash University planetary geologist Dr Rachel Kirby<\/a> explained AI pictures circulating online that show it similar in appearance to the Moon are \u201cmisleading\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re irregular-shaped like potatoes, because they are often just loosely held bodies of rock. And because they\u2019re so small, they don\u2019t have enough gravity to make them round-shaped,\u201d she told Yahoo.<\/p>\n

Occasionally, objects will be drawn into the orbit of the Earth and become mini-moons. But the gravitational attraction is only strong enough for a few laps around our planet to occur.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything that comes close enough will have its orbit deflected and start orbiting us for a bit. Because the Earth is so massive, we do have a gravitational pull on things that are flying through our neighbourhood of space,\u201d Kirby said.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

While some images circulating online show a second moon that’s round in shape, 2025 PN7 is actually irregular in shape and very small. Source: Flux 1.1 AI image generator \/ GEEKSPIN<\/p>\n

Could 2025 PN7 become a planet?<\/p>\n

Although it’s orbiting the Sun, 2025 PN7 will never become a planet, because it\u2019s simply not large enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why Pluto was demoted from being a planet,\u201d Kirby said, noting it\u2019s now considered a dwarf planet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has to be large enough that it makes its own spherical shape \u2014 so it can’t be irregular shaped \u2014 and makes its own gravity. And it also has to clear its orbit of other material.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it was exciting for the public to dream about a second moon suddenly entering Earth\u2019s orbit, Kirby said misconceptions in the media need to be corrected so that trust in science is maintained.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really important as a society that we have trust in the scientific system, for all sorts of larger problems,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Prediction that more ‘quasi-moons’ will be found<\/p>\n

After decades working as an astronomer, Brown said he still gets \u201cexcited\u201d about space and discoveries like 2025 PN7.<\/p>\n

With technology continuing to improve and new telescopes coming online, he suspects more objects will be found close to Earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the next few years, it wouldn\u2019t surprise me if we found half a dozen more of them, and they\u2019ll be quite small,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll do a few orbits like a moon would, but often it’s not attracted enough gravitationally to the Earth for that orbit to be maintained for any period of time,\u201d Kirby said.<\/p>\n

Love Australia’s weird and wonderful environment? \ud83d\udc0a\ud83e\udd98\ud83d\ude33 Get our new newsletter<\/a> showcasing the week\u2019s best stories.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reports of a second \u201cmoon\u201d orbiting the Earth until 2083 have sparked a flurry of excitement this week.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[64,63,128925,47830,140583,128,107338],"class_list":{"0":"post-234153","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-michael-brown","11":"tag-monash-university","12":"tag-rachel-kirby","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-the-earth"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}