Labeled as ‘mini-moon’, the discovery of the small asteroid has triggered lot of excitement, among the community of amateur and professional astronomers, not only in India but across the globe

When approaching Earth, asteroids tend to do one of two things: Most of the time, they miss. Sometimes, they hit, leaving a bright streak in our planet’s sky or a gruesome new wound in its crust. But very rarely, asteroids are captured by Earth’s gravity and pirouette around the planet, becoming, in effect, a moon — albeit an ephemeral one.