Here’s what to know about our new, temporary celestial neighbor. Earth has a large gravitational pull. So it’s not uncommon for objects flying through space to be attracted to it or get caught up in an orbit — at which point they earn status as miniature moons. The same happens with objects purposefully placed in space, such as satellites.

The asteroid was discovered in August and is set to become a mini-moon, spinning around Earth in a horseshoe shape for about two months.

It won't be there forever, but Earth will have a second moon when a small asteroid begins to orbit the planet later this month, space researchers have announced.