Earth has picked up an extraordinarily small temporary companion, a 1 meter asteroid designated 2026 QQ8 that is looping around the planet. At first, astronomers could not tell whether the object was a natural space rock or human made debris left in the Solar System.

That uncertainty has now been settled. Last week, the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union confirmed that 2026 QQ8 is natural, ending the question over whether it was abandoned space junk.

Hungarian astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky first spotted the object on August 20. The temporary satellite is not expected to remain with Earth for long, probably escaping the planet's gravity after about a month and continuing its journey around the Sun.

The asteroid approached Earth in April and made a close approach on May 1, when the planet's gravity pulled it in. Since then, the tiny rock has been traveling in a loop around Earth.

Measuring about 1 meter, or 3 feet, across, 2026 QQ8 is an exceptionally small visitor. Its modest size contributed to the initial uncertainty about whether it was natural or an artificial object.

Despite its close encounter with Earth, the asteroid poses no collision danger. It came within 537,000 kilometers, or 334,000 miles, of the planet on August 18 and will not come any closer.

That distance is approximately 0.0038 astronomical units, or 1.5 times the distance between Earth and the Moon. The object will be much farther away shortly before its final goodbye on December 13.

“Orbit integrations indicate that this object is temporarily bound to the Earth,” a circular from the Minor Planet Center said. The finding confirms that Earth's gravity has temporarily captured the asteroid.

The circular added, “No link to a known artificial object has been found. Further observations and dynamical studies are strongly encouraged.” Those studies could help researchers better characterize the object and its behavior.

Scientists value these encounters because they provide opportunities to characterize near-Earth asteroids from relatively close range. Such observations can offer insights into the formation of the Solar System and contribute to planetary defense research when objects come too close.

Earth still has only one permanent natural satellite, the Moon. However, the planet regularly interacts with smaller bodies while traveling through space, producing temporary companions known as mini-moons and quasi-moons.

2026 QQ8 belongs to the mini-moon category. Mini-moons are small asteroids or comets captured by a planet's gravity, allowing them to complete one or more loops before being thrown back into the wider Solar System.

Quasi-satellites, also called quasi-moons, behave differently because they are not gravitationally bound to a planet. Their orbits can nevertheless make them appear to travel around that planet when viewed over time.

Earth has eight known quasi-satellites, including 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and Cardea. They are influenced by Earth's gravity but not held by it, and they orbit the Sun in one year while spending time ahead of Earth, behind it, closer to the Sun, and farther away.

The difference comes down to whether Earth's gravity actually captures the object. Quasi-moons only appear to circle Earth, while mini-moons are temporarily bound before eventually escaping.

It is common for Earth to have a mini-moon at any given time. In August 2024, the planet temporarily had two, including 2024 PT5, which may have been made from the Moon because it shared the satellite's chemical composition.

Another temporary visitor, 2022 NX 1, has returned before. It became a mini-moon in both 1981 and 2022, showing that some of these small companions can come back.

According to EarthSky, astronomers traced the recent history of 2026 QQ8 and found that it appears to approach Earth every 10 years. It came close in 1965 without being captured and is expected to return fairly close in 2058, though not close enough to become a mini-moon again.