Scientists have spotted a small asteroid that could be orbiting Earth mini moon Before heading down a path that could threaten it at the end of the century.
asteroidKnown as 2022 RD2, belongs to a rare class space The rocks are called Arjuna. These things move around Sun On orbits that closely resemble Earth’s and sometimes drift near the planet at unusually low speeds. That slow motion could allow Earth’s gravity to trap them for short periods of time, creating what researchers call mini-moons.
NASA has calculated the asteroid’s orbit and placed it on risk list As for potential impacts, however, the agency’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies has come to a somewhat different conclusion about the asteroid’s future trajectory.
If these predictions hold true, 2022 RD2 could become one of the few known asteroids that can transition from a near-Earth object to a floating moon and subsequently be at potential crash risk – all within a single lifetime.
NASA has a broken giant antenna that could derail its 2026 plans
A team of astronomers in Madrid says 2022 RD2 follows a particularly unstable path. Its Lyapunov period – a measure of how quickly the orbit becomes unpredictable – is less than 20 years, which is much shorter than most near-Earth asteroids. That rapid change means that small gravitational shocks can push the rock onto dramatically different paths in just a few decades.
their conclusion appeared this week Research Notes of the American Astronomical SocietyThe paper’s authors, brother Carlos and Raul de la Fuente Marcos of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, have previously reported on “half-moons,” 2025 PN7 and miniature moon 2024 pt5Which revolved around the Earth for some time last year.
An image of asteroid 2024 PT5, which became a temporary mini moon last year.
Credit: Two-Meter Twin Telescope / Light Bridge / Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
One key difference, he said, is that miniature moons are captured by Earth’s gravity for a short period of time. But 2025 PN7 is more like a predator, merely following Earth in its journey around the Sun without becoming a true satellite.
mashable light speed
Arjun Carlos told Mashable that researchers are interested because of their scientific and practical potential.
“On the one hand, they are easier to reach than other asteroids, so they could be used to test space technology or even try commercial ventures like mining,” he said. “On the other hand, some of them are suspected lunar debris that resulted from current impacts on the Moon.”
Simulations suggest that 2022 RD2 could enter a temporary orbit around Earth between 2043 and 2044, becoming a small moon for several months. The team applied standard criteria for temporal capture: a close approach, a reduction in relative motion, and a period during which Earth’s gravity exerts enough control to create a true orbit.
After RD2 leaves Earth’s neighborhood in 2022, its path appears to become more irregular. According to the paper, some possible trajectories include a collision course starting around 2080.
But NASA’s models put potential impact The dates are even later and the probability is estimated to be less than 0.1 percent, said David Farnocchia, a navigation engineer at the center. The asteroid is also relatively small, perhaps the size of a three-story building.
“So it wouldn’t cause any significant damage, even if it was on an impact trajectory,” Farnocchia told Mashable.
Many recent miniature moons and half-moons appear to belong to the Arjuna population – a loose group of Earth-like objects that follow our planet on its path around the Sun. Their origin and composition are largely unknown as only a few have been studied in detail. show some similarities real moonBut scientists need more data, Carlos said.
Although some small near-Earth objects turn out to be old spacecraft or rocket boosters, researchers say 2022 RD2 is almost certainly natural. And although their projections do not confirm a future collision, they still cannot rule it out.
“This population is just beginning to be studied,” Carlos said. “Paradoxically, being so close to us, they are comparatively difficult to study, as visibility windows for many of them are few and far between.”