![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SEC_271314518-76e3.jpg\")
\n\t\tA cosmic-sized Mickey Mouse (Picture: Getty)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tA cosmic-sized Mickey Mouse (Picture: Getty)<\/p>\n
For more than 60 years, Earth has been stalked by a space rock without any of us realising. And we have no idea where it even came from.<\/p>\n
Well, kind of. Astronomers have discovered that a tiny asteroid<\/a>, named 2025 PN7<\/a>, is accompanying our planet in a rare orbital ballet. <\/p>\n The asteroid is estimated to be as small as 62 feet, about as long as a bowling lane.<\/p>\n Most asteroids are ancient rocks made from the leftovers of our solar system\u2019s formation, while others are chunks of the Moon flung into space by an impact<\/a> on the lunar surface\u00a0tens of thousands of years ago. <\/p>\n \t\t But because there are so few sightings of 2025 PN7, researchers wrote in a recently published article in the journal\u00a0Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society<\/a> that there are \u2018no real hints about its origins\u2019.<\/p>\n Does the Earth now have two moons?<\/p>\n No, the Earth does not have two moons<\/a>, stressed Dr Alfredo Carpineti<\/a>, a science writer for IFLScience.<\/p>\n Dr Carpineti, the author of the upcoming astronomy book, Invisible Rainbows, told Metro that this is because 2025 PN7 doesn\u2019t orbit Earth like the Moon does. <\/p>\n Instead, it orbits the Sun at roughly the same distance as we do, a bit like a car driving in the lane next to you on the motorway. <\/p>\n Because the asteroid\u2019s orbit is in lock step with Earth\u2019s, this means 2025 PN7 is a \u2018quasi moon\u2019, rather than a moon, he said.<\/p>\n Wait, what is a quasi-moon?<\/p>\n \t\t A quasi-moon is an object \u2018that appears to go around the Earth but is not gravitationally bound by it\u2019, said Dr Carpineti.<\/p>\n These are different from \u2018mini-moons\u2019, which are objects that orbit our planet. But mini-moons tend to only be fleeting visitors, like 2024 PT5<\/a>, which circled the blue marble for just two months before packing its bags.<\/p>\n By contrast, quasi-moons can be our cosmic companions for tens or even hundreds of years. <\/p>\n While scientists at the University of Hawaii spotted 2025 PN7 in August, they later realised by combing archival photos that the rock shuffled into its quasi-moon orbit in 1957.<\/p>\n According to observations, 2025 PN7 orbits the sun in an elliptical path that is inside Earth\u2019s orbit part of the time and outside part of the time.<\/p>\n So far, 2025 PN7 has drifted as close to us as 2.5million miles, about 10 times the distance of us to the Moon, and will stray as far away as 11million miles. <\/p>\n But because 2025 PN7 is so small, astronomers have struggled to figure out what the sojourning object is made from, which can be done by looking at how much sunlight its surface reflects. <\/p>\n How long will 2025 PN7 be in orbit?<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018It will leave us in a few decades,\u2019 added Dr Carpineti, referring to Nasa simulations <\/a>that predict the 2025 PN7 will leave Earth\u2019s orbit in 2083.<\/p>\n Give or take, 2025 PN7 will have been Earth\u2019s neighbour for 126 years before packing its bags and heading off into the void of space.<\/p>\n Will it affect the Earth at all?<\/p>\n After fears that a \u2018city-killer\u2019 asteroid would smash into the Earth in a few years, it\u2019s natural to feel a bit nervous about our rocky visitor. <\/p>\n But as Dr Carpineti says, 2025 PN7 \u2018won\u2019t affect Earth at all\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s a tiny space rock we have sort of picked up on our cosmic journey,\u2019 he added.<\/p>\n The Earth, after all, already had eight quasi-moons flinging around it, and we\u2019ve all lived to tell the tale.<\/p>\n Every time we\u2019ve had a tag-along in space, scientists have raced for their telescopes as each one offers a clue to how our star system came to be.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s always fun finding a new quasi moon,\u2019 Dr Carpineti says. \u2018It shows just how busy the bulk of space is.<\/p>\n \u2018Hope you enjoy the ride, little quasi-moon.\u2019<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"Does](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SEI_271313818-56d4.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe space rock, 2025 PN7, has been whizzing by us for decades (Picture: Nasa)<\/p>\n![\"Land](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SEI_271313767-1d5f.jpg\")
\n\t\tAstronomers aren\u2019t entirely sure what the asteroid looks like as it\u2019s too small to easily detect (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Does](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SEI_271313344-e5b5.jpg\")
\n\t\tQuasi-moons trail or lead Earth as they both circle the Sun (Picture: Nasa)<\/p>\n
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