Krisztián Sárneczky’s August 20 discovery of 2026 QQ8 now sits at the center of an Earth new moon story: the 3-foot object has been temporarily captured by Earth’s gravity. The Minor Planet Center reported on October 29, 2026 that the mini-moon should stay with Earth through December 2026 before heading back on its own path in 2027.
The object will pass as close as 0.0038 astronomical units from Earth, about 1 and a half times farther than the Moon. At about 1 meter across, 2026 QQ8 is small enough that its path can be worked out only through repeated observations, not a single look.
Minor Planet Center and EarthSky
The Minor Planet Center said 2026 QQ8 appears to have entered orbit around Earth in April 2026 and became temporarily bound in late April 2026. That is why astronomers are treating it as a mini-moon rather than a permanent companion: it is held by Earth for now, but only for a limited stretch of time.
A quasi-moon does not truly orbit Earth and only looks that way from our perspective, but 2026 QQ8 is different. The report says Earth’s gravity has temporarily captured it as a mini-moon, making this a brief natural capture rather than a lasting change in Earth’s neighborhood.
University of Hawaii 2.2-meter telescope
Astronomers first debated whether 2026 QQ8 was natural or space junk from a rocket or old satellite. Follow-up observations with the University of Hawaii 2.2-meter telescope and the Lowell Discovery Telescope led the Minor Planet Center to conclude that it is not space junk.
The object is of natural origin and likely a small asteroid. Krisztián Sárneczky originally discovered it near Earth on August 20, 2026, and the later observations tied that detection to the object that has now been identified as 2026 QQ8.
In April 2026
One detail makes the orbit change worth tracking: astronomers found that 2026 QQ8 comes close to Earth approximately every 10 years. It came fairly close in 1965, but not close enough for temporary capture, and it will come close again in 2058 without regaining mini-moon status.
For readers following the object’s path, the practical takeaway is simple. 2026 QQ8 is expected to remain with Earth through December 2026, then continue on its own journey in 2027, giving astronomers a short window to study a small natural object that has only briefly joined Earth’s neighborhood.
