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[I]t circles the Sun every 1.09 years. Its nearly circular orbit is just nine million kilometres farther from the Sun than the Earth’s.
The object’s orbit is extremely unusual. Comets and asteroids that cross the Earth’s orbit normally have eccentric orbits. There is only one asteroid-like object, called 1991 VG, that has a similar orbit to that of the Earth. When it was discovered, eight years ago, astronomers thought it might be a spacecraft that had escaped the Earth’s gravity.
The new object, designated 1999 CG9, is considerably brighter than 1991 VG, indicating that it is much larger. Brian Marsden of Harvard-Smithsonian estimates it to be between 30 and 50 metres across, too big to be the final stage of a rocket. “The most likely explanation is that it’s a chip off the Moon,” he says.