Nasa announced this week that the object, first identified by the University of Hawaii, qualifies as a “quasi-moon.” It’s not a second moon, but a rare kind of asteroid that moves almost perfectly in step with our planet, circling the Sun on a path so similar to Earth’s that it seems to accompany us through space. The asteroid is named as 2025 PN7.
The asteroid is estimated to be between 18 and 36 meters wide — about the height of a modest building. Small by cosmic standards, it’s still large enough to earn a place in what astronomers call Earth’s broader gravitational neighborhood, reports
Unlike the Moon, this asteroid isn’t tethered by gravity. Scientists liken it to “a friendly runner matching your stride on the same track — close enough to notice, but never touching.”
Researchers say 2025 PN7 has likely followed Earth for around six decades and could continue doing so until roughly 2083, before wandering off into deeper space. Its distance varies dramatically — sometimes coming within 4 million kilometers, or ten times farther than the Moon, and at other times drifting as far as 17 million kilometers away. These shifts result from the tug-of-war between the Sun’s gravity and that of nearby planets.
The University of Hawaii team first detected the object during a telescope scan earlier this year. What initially appeared to be a dim, slow-moving dot turned out to mirror Earth’s orbit exactly. After several weeks of tracking, Nasa confirmed it as a temporary cosmic companion.
To date, astronomers have confirmed just eight quasi-moons like this one. Each helps researchers better understand how small bodies move near Earth and how our planet’s gravity sculpts its local space environment.
For scientists, these quiet neighbors serve an important role — they refine orbital models, improve asteroid predictions, and may even offer convenient practice targets for future missions close to home.
It won’t ever rival our Moon, but 2025 PN7 deserves attention — a faint, faithful traveler keeping pace with Earth on its endless route around the Sun.
