Its period of revolution around the Sun, approximately 364 days in the early 21st century, is almost equal to that of Earth. Because of this, Cruithne and Earth appear to “follow” each other in their paths around the Sun. This is why Cruithne is sometimes called “Earth’s second moon”.

What is Earth’s 2nd moon called?

And according to a new study in Nature, we may at last know how it was formed. The quasi-moon—named Kamo’oalewa, after a Hawaiian word that refers to a moving celestial object—is not much to speak of, measuring less than 50 m (164 ft) across.

Do we have 2 moons?

Earth’s moon may not be alone. After more than half a century of speculation and controversy, Hungarian astronomers and physicists say they have finally confirmed the existence of two Earth-orbiting “moons” entirely made of dust.

Earth once had two moons, which merged in a slow-motion collision that took several hours to complete, researchers propose in Nature today. Both satellites would have formed from debris that was ejected when a Mars-size protoplanet smacked into Earth late in its formation period.