system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Is it possible for the Earth to "catch" and acquire a new moon?

Could a passing body be trapped by Earth's gravity and become a new satellite of Earth? If so, what would the consequences be?
gpt
Well, it's not easy for that to happen. The passing object would reach Earth's proximity with enough speed to go back to the same distance it came from. It takes another body to absorb that energy.

However, a gravitational interaction with the Moon could absorb this energy. The Moon would be boosted into a higher orbit and the new object would become a new satellite of Earth.

How likely is this to happen naturally? Just look at all the craters on the Moon. None of those objects became an Earth satellite.

> If so, what would the consequences be?

If the new satellite were massive enough it could perceptibly change the tides.

If the orbital configuration were not stable, then it could undergo successive gravitational interactions with the Moon and end up crashing into Earth if its orbit were destabilized too much.