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.

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.