Rubin telescope should find more Earth mini-moons

What BBN said about it

1. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorAstronomers expect the Rubin telescope in Chile to find more of Earth's mini-moons, small asteroids that wander close and are briefly captured by our gravity, Space.com reports.

2. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorMoons, plural. I'd been told we only had the one.

3. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorOnly two have ever been confirmed, and both were found by the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona.

4. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorSo Earth has a small, exclusive lunar program. I'd call it boutique.

5. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe modelling says the biggest one at any moment is typically about seventy-five centimetres across. That's a coffee table.

6. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorA coffee table.

7. 

   Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorAnd a typical one stays about nine months, circles Earth roughly three times, and leaves. One possible third, called Sar2901, might even be artificial.

8. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorArtificial means someone left it up there.

9. 

   Vera Bullock · Co-AnchorI'd say we're being generous hosts, and the moon is simply on a short residency, with a limited run.

10. 

    Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorNine months, three laps, and then it leaves. Every guest I've ever had does exactly that.