Zero Genie

A University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo graduate has attracted international attention after discovering what could be a mini-moon close to Earth. Teddy Pruyne and fellow astronomer Kacper Wierzchos spotted the car-sized asteroid on February 15, at the Catalina Sky Survey in Tucson, Ariz. Its now being called 2020 CD3, and if its proposed designation holds up, it will only be the second time in history an asteroid of its kind has been found. The extraordinary discovery garnered thousands of retweets on Twitter.

“It’s a big deal as out of ∼1 million known asteroids, this is just the second asteroid known to orbit Earth,“ Wierzchos explained in a follow-up tweet. The discovery turned heads because it didn’t burn up or get ejected as most asteroids do when they come close to Earth.

The object was officially announced by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, an organization in charge of confirming observations in the Solar System. The orbit shows that it entered Earth’s orbit about three years ago.

Pruyne earned a bachelor of science in astronomy from UH Hilo in 2018. He is a research specialist at Catalina Sky Survey and surveys the night sky for objects classified as Near Earth Objects.

The potential mini-moon discovery is not the first time Pruyne has made news with his observations. On October 31, 2019, he discovered the second closest object on record to graze by Earth, but not strike the planet. The asteroid, now designated 2019 UN13, was identified while analyzing four images taken within the constellation Aries.

For more go to UH Hilo Stories.