ATLANTA — Astronomers have made an exciting discovery: a quasi-moon named 2025 PN7 has been lurking near Earth, mostly undetected for about 60 years. This small space rock, a type of near-Earth asteroid, orbits the sun while staying close to our planet, completing its journey in one year.
Quasi-moons are different from temporary mini-moons, which can orbit Earth for a brief time. For instance, 2024 PT5 visited our planet for two months last year and might be an ancient piece of our moon. Currently, seven known quasi-satellites, including 2025 PN7 and Kamoʻoalewa, orbit near Earth. Kamoʻoalewa is the target of China’s Tianwen-2 mission, set to collect samples in 2027.
The Pan-STARRS observatory in Hawaii first captured images of 2025 PN7 on August 29. It turns out this space rock has been in an Earth-like orbit for decades, but its small and faint nature made it hard to spot. Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, a researcher from the Complutense University of Madrid, explains, “Its visibility windows are few and far between, making it a challenging object to detect.”
Interestingly, 2025 PN7 swings within about 186,000 miles of us at its closest approach—a distance that is closer than the moon, which is about 238,855 miles away on average.
Experts estimate 2025 PN7 to be around 98 feet in diameter, making it the smallest known quasi-moon. It has a unique orbit that changes over time, sometimes becoming more circular and at other times taking on a horseshoe shape, which can stretch out to 185 million miles from Earth.
The future of 2025 PN7 looks interesting; it is expected to maintain its orbit for about another 60 years before being pulled into a horseshoe orbit by the sun’s gravity. Researchers are still investigating its composition, but initial thoughts suggest it is a natural, rocky object. Dr. Teddy Kareta, an assistant professor in astrophysics at Villanova University, notes that while some near-Earth objects can be artificial debris, 2025 PN7 shows signs of being an asteroid.
There’s also speculation that 2025 PN7 originated from the Arjuna asteroid group. This group consists of small space rocks with orbits similar to ours but is not a distinct belt like the one between Mars and Jupiter.
Fortunately, objects like 2025 PN7 don’t pose a significant impact risk to Earth. The study and exploration of quasi-moons could yield valuable insights into their origins and the history of our solar system. According to de la Fuente Marcos: “These asteroids are easier to reach for unmanned missions and can help test new space technology without needing a huge investment.”
This discovery highlights the mysteries waiting to be uncovered in our cosmic neighborhood, reminding us that the solar system is full of surprises.
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