The moon is probably not Earth’s only natural satellite right now. Our planet's gravity regularly captures small space rocks and pulls them into orbit. Astronomers estimate that there's probably a 1-yard-wide “minimoon” orbiting Earth at any given time.
And now, a team of researchers in Australia think they actually spotted one burning up in Earth’s atmosphere in 2016 as a particularly bright meteor, or fireball. It's only the second fireball that scientists suspect came from a minimoon. The team presented their findings in a recent paper published in The Astronomical Journal.
Australia's Desert Fireball Network is a group of automated cameras that constantly watches the skies for fireballs and captures their flight paths on camera. Researchers use this information to calculate the objects’ trajectories and see where a meteorite may have hit the ground. They can also use the data to estimate the fireball's path before entering Earth’s atmosphere, as ...
