Astronomers working with the Catalina Sky Survey funded by NASA has found a new tiny asteroid. The asteroid is found orbiting Earth for three years. The scientists has confirmed it as a mini-moon.
The washing machine sized asteroid is named 2020 CD3. The asteroid is six to 12 feet in diameter and has a surface brightness of C-type asteroids, which are carbon rich and very common. The new asteroid only the second one to orbit Earth.
The asteroid was spotted on February 15 by astronomers Kacper Wierzchos and Teddy Pruyne. They had again spotted the asteroid for four times on February 17.
Our Moon is 2,000-miles in diameter and has orbited the Earth for four billion years, while a mini-moon is thought to orbit the planet for less than a year before flying off in space as an asteroid or falling to Earth as a meteor fireball.
https://twitter.com/WierzchosKacper/status/1232460436634656769?s=20
Post Your Comments