What's Up With Earth's 'Mini-Moon?' A Quirky Phenomenon And Its Memes Explained

We feel pretty confident in saying that throughout your life, Earth has only had one moon. Now it has two moons. That's simply too many moons.

Why does Earth have a temporary second moon? Here's an explanation of the funny business going on in the night sky.

What Is The Earth's "Second Moon"?

First off, Earth's "second moon" isn't actually a "moon," per se. It's an asteroid called "2024 PT5" that is set to pass by Earth and will briefly be sucked into Earth's orbit for about two months. It entered Earth's orbit on September 29th and will stick around until November 25th before it returns to its journey through the cosmos.

What Has Been The Reaction To The Second Moon?

Though "mini-moon" is something of a misnomer for 2024 PT5, it's definitely more eye-catching to say Earth will briefly have a "second moon" than a "rock that's hanging out for a little while nearby."

With such a fascinating but ultimately inconsequential cosmic event happening, social media users had a lot of fun making fun of the idea of Earth having a "second moon," pulling out plenty of templates for memes.

During its time circling on our planet, 2024 PT5 will serve no "function" like our actual moon does and will not affect the planet. So while we have a few months to crack jokes about "Moon 2" without much consequence, it's worth noting that Earth got a second moon before Joel Embiid made the conference finals.

The earth got a second moon before Joel Embiid made the conference finals! https://t.co/txLOesPSoJ pic.twitter.com/2Bv6IKBKoi

— RJ (𝘿𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝘿𝙋𝙊𝙔 𝙎𝙕𝙉) (@MariChalphy) September 30, 2024

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For the full history of Earth's mini-moon, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.