Here’s what to know about our new, temporary celestial neighbor. Earth has a large gravitational pull. So it’s not uncommon for objects flying through space to be attracted to it or get caught up in an orbit — at which point they earn status as miniature moons. The same happens with objects purposefully placed in space, such as satellites.

But the universe is throwing things for a loop by introducing a “second moon” for the next two months. In reality, it’s actually an asteroid, but we're kind of splitting hairs at that point. Regardless,