With COVID-19 taking over the news stations and outlets, many people across the world have missed other newsworthy events and information. One such piece of news involves Earth’s new “mini-moon,” an asteroid flyby, and the biggest full moon of the year.
On February 15th, astronomers discovered a small “mini-moon” orbiting the earth. The second moon has since left Earth’s orbit but had been expected to have been in orbit for about a year. This is not the first new object to join in orbiting the earth. Scientists have captured images in years prior to other pieces of space debris and space rocks circling the earth, only to leave after a short while, expected to have left on March 7th.
The mini-moon is expected to return to the earth’s orbit at some point in the future, but scientists aren’t sure when.
While Earth is losing its second moon, it is gaining a new, larger, visitor. A large asteroid, labeled asteroid 1998 OR2, and is between 1.1 and 2.5 miles in diameter according to Accuweather.com, will be passing by the earth around April 29th. The asteroid has been labeled “potentially hazardous” by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), but not because of the threat of it hitting the earth, not even close. There is no report of the asteroid potentially hitting the earth, it just happens to fall into the category based on distance.
It is an estimated 3.9 million miles from Earth, according to Space.com. It will come back to Earth in May 2031 and will be it’s closest in April 2079.
Lastly, Earth has had its biggest full moon of the year April’s, Pink Moon. This special full moon, also known as a super moon, wasn’t pink per say, but it was brighter than the average full moon, according to CNN. It was seen on April 8th all over the world and left many people who are isolating themselves indoors in awe of its size and beauty.
CNN has also reported that NASA expects a grouping of Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and the moon in alignment in mid April as well. NASA has said that this only happens every few years.
While COVID-19 is major world news and should not be ignored, it is also important to remember to keep up to date on other news events. While none of these space phenomenons will affect Earth and people’s day to day lives, they do offer an educational and fascinating break from a global pandemic.
