New research suggests that Earth's recent mini-moon might have originated as part of our actual moon long, long ago.

The small near-Earth asteroid 2024 PT5 has been creating a buzz among researchers. Discovered last year with the help of a NASA-funded telescope, it is only about 33 feet across and does not pose any threat to Earth.

Earth's temporary asteroid friend last year was a chunk of its real moon that had been blasted into space thousands of years ago, scientists find.

Last year, astronomers on the hunt for potentially dangerous near-Earth asteroids spotted something unusual. A space rock, now dubbed 2024 PT5 made several close passes by Earth, not quite orbiting our planet,