page_title: Claimed moons of Earth
section_title: Modern status
hierarchical_section_title: Claimed moons of Earth / History / Modern status
caption_attribution_description: Čeština: Oběžná dráha planetky 2010 TK7 Русский: Движение астероида 2010 TK7
context_page_description: Claims of the existence of other moons of Earth—that is, of one or more natural satellites with relatively stable orbits of Earth, other than the Moon —have existed for some time. Several candidates have been proposed, but none has been confirmed. Since the 19th century, scientists have made genuine searches for more moons, but the possibility has also been the subject of a number of dubious non-scientific speculations as well as a number of likely hoaxes.
  Although the Moon is Earth's only natural satellite, there are a number of near-Earth objects with orbits that are in resonance with Earth. These have been called "second" moons of Earth.
  469219 Kamoʻoalewa, an asteroid discovered on 27 April 2016, is possibly the most stable quasi-satellite of Earth. As it orbits the Sun, 469219 Kamoʻoalewa appears to circle around Earth as well. It is too distant to be a true satellite of Earth, but is the best and most stable example of a quasi-satellite, a type of near-Earth object. They appear to orbit a point other than Earth itself, such as the orbital path of the NEO asteroid 3753 Cruithne.
context_section_description: It was discovered that small bodies can be temporarily captured, as shown by 2006 RH120, which was in Earth orbit in 2006–2007.
  In 2010, the first known Earth trojan was discovered in data from Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), and is currently called 2010 TK7.
  In 2011, planetary scientists Erik Asphaug and Martin Jutzi proposed a model in which a second moon would have existed 4.5 billion years ago, and later impacted the Moon, as a part of the accretion process in the formation of the Moon.
  In 2018, it was confirmed two dust clouds orbited Earth at the Moon's L₄ and L₅ points, known as the Kordylewski clouds.  These were nicknamed "Earth's hidden moons".
  The interpretation of some bodies has led to sometimes bold statements in the astronomy press, though often allowing for other interpretations:
  Earth has a second moon, of sorts, and could have many others, according to three astronomers who did calculations to describe orbital motions at gravitational balance points in space that temporarily pull asteroids into bizarre orbits near our planet.
  — Space.com, 1999
caption: 2010 TK7 has a helical path (green) relative to Earth and its orbit (blue dots)
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