Earth’s new Quasi-moon 2025 PN7 went undetected for decades

A shy space rock is making its lunar debut.

Astronomers believe they’ve discovered another so-called quasi-moon of Earth, though it’s likely been circling undetected in near space for decades.

Dubbed 2025 PN7, this mini moon is actually an asteroid — which, unlike our own full-fledged moon, orbits the sun alongside Earth.

The discovery of 2025 PN7 was described in a new study published in the journal Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) on Sept. 2.

According to the report, 2025 PN7 is just 62 feet wide and bright enough to spot only through a high-quality telescope.

Lead author Carlos de la Fuente Marcos of the Complutense University of Madrid wrote that 2025 PN7 is the “smallest and the least stable known quasi-satellite of Earth.”

French journalist Adrien Coffinet was the first to introduce 2025 PN7 to the world on Aug. 30, per Live Science, for the Minor Planet Mailing List, where amateur astronomers gather online to share and collect the latest data.

According to Coffinet’s calculations, “2025 PN7 seems to be a quasi-satellite of the Earth for the next 60 years,” he wrote, who based his predictions on July 30 observations by the Haleakalā Observatory’s Pan-STARRS1 telescope in Maui, Hawaii.

When asked why it took us so long to find 2025 PN7, de la Fuente Marcos told Live Science, “It is small, faint and its visibility windows from Earth are rather unfavorable, so it is not surprising that it went unnoticed for that long.”

Aside from 2025 PN7, there are 7 other quasi-moons, according to the Planetary Society, which they refer to as “a gravitational sleight of hand.” From our terrestrial point of view, they may appear to travel around Earth, when in fact they’re being tugged by the sun’s orbit.

Given this latest discovery, de la Fuente Marcos believes more quasi-moons could be added to the roster. adding that these fledgling Earth satellites can be “full of surprises.”