SCIENCE LAB SPECIAL : MINI-MOON AUDITION

A new member of Earth's family - but just for a little while. When approaching Earth, asteroids tend to do one of the two things :

Most of the time, they miss. Sometimes, they hit, leaving a bright streak in our planet's sky or a gruesome new wound in its crust. But very rarely, an asteroid is captured by the Earth's gravity and pirouettes around the planet, becoming, in effect, a moon - albeit an ephemeral one.

A space rock spotted recently with NASA-funded ground telescopes is about to do just that, temporarily becoming another lunar-like companion to planet Earth.

The asteroid 2024 PT5, is just 33 feet [ 10 meters ] long. Astronomers calculate that from Sunday until Nov. 25, it will loop around the planet before breaking free of its gravitational tether and flying off into space.

Asteroids that fall to escape Earth's gravity and end up orbiting the planet for a time are called mini-moons. Being so diminutive and speedy, they are difficult to spot and formally identify.

Sometimes, they turn out to be artificial objects : the European Space Agency's star-mapping Gain spacecraft was once mistaken for an asteroid. [ Robin George Andrews ]