Earth has one permanent natural moon, commonly known simply as "the Moon." It is the largest and brightest object in our night sky and the only celestial body beyond Earth that humans have visited
. However, Earth sometimes temporarily captures small asteroids into orbit, which are called "mini-moons" or temporary satellites. Only two such objects are well documented: asteroid 2006 RH120, which orbited Earth for about nine months in 2006-2007, and asteroid 2020 CD3, which orbited for nearly three years before escaping in 2020
. More recently, in September 2024, Earth captured another small asteroid named 2024 PT5, making it a temporary second moon for a short period
. Besides these, there are objects called quasi-satellites and Trojans that share Earth's orbit around the Sun but are not gravitationally bound moons. There are also dust clouds at Earth's Lagrange points sometimes called "ghost moons" or Kordylewski clouds
. In summary:
- Earth has one permanent natural moon: the Moon.
- Occasionally, Earth has temporary mini-moons-small asteroids temporarily captured by Earth's gravity.
- As of late 2024, Earth has had at least two known temporary mini-moons (2006 RH120, 2020 CD3) plus the recently captured 2024 PT5.
- Other near-Earth objects orbit the Sun near Earth but are not true moons.
Therefore, Earth officially has one moon, but temporarily can have additional small mini-moons in orbit
