Phil PlaitAs of yesterday afternoon, Earth has two natural moons!
Kinda! And not for long!
https://badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/earth-has-a-second-moon-sorta
The new moon, called 2024 PT5, is a small asteroid about 10 meters across, and many hundreds of thousands of kilometers from us, so it's far too small to see without a powerful telescope. But it's still a cool story, and shows how space is weirder than you think. 😀
Tom Fakes (he/him)
zendao42
Szescstopni@badastro Astronomers are excited. Astrologists even more so.
Michael Busch@Szescstopni @badastro Asteroid astrology is unfortunately* a thing.
via @sundogplanets : https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/113221713420480880
*Unfortunately for my spam folder.
@michael_w_busch @badastro @sundogplanets Yes, I am aware of this. Scam is all around. I wonder how much medieval and renaissance astronomy was funded by donors who expected to find out about their fate :)
Phogna Bologna@badastro i have an image of a funny little rock pulling up its pants and heading back out into space.
OtownKim@badastro Science is Cool! 👍
Raven Luni@badastro Moon Moon!
@badastro Also does that mean Werewolves have to work double shifts?
Elsie!@badastro that’s a lot of reading (limited screen time). Is it going to be visible worldwide or just America?
bubbajet@badastro Oh, the mirror video was just amazing. A-maze-ing. Wow.
Topher Belknap@badastro So a planet needs to have cleared its orbit, but a moon can be as temporary as 2 months? You astronomers need better definitions.