Asteroid 2026 QQ8 becomes Earth's new mini-moon
The three-foot cosmic visitor entered Earth's orbit in April and is expected to remain until December.
The asteroid 2026 QQ8 has become a temporary mini-moon for Earth, according to a report by WION. The object has been orbiting the planet since April this year and was first observed in August.
Hungarian astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky first spotted the object on August 20, according to a statement from the Minor Planet Center on October 29, 2026. While astronomers initially suspected the object could be space debris from an old rocket, analysis of data from the University of Hawaii 2.2-meter telescope and the Lowell Discovery Telescope confirmed it is a natural cosmic object.
The asteroid is approximately three feet in size and follows a loopy orbit. Astronomers calculated that 2026 QQ8 will remain about 0.0038 astronomical units (AU) away from Earth, which is farther than the distance to the moon.
Orbital data indicates that 2026 QQ8 comes near Earth every 10 years, though it does not always become a mini-moon. It came close in 1965 but stayed outside the Hill radius, the theoretical boundary where Earth's gravity dominates. This time, the object breached that boundary.
The mini-moon is expected to stay with Earth until December before escaping. Because of its small size, the object would burn up if it entered the atmosphere.