Earth is set to welcome a new mini-moon as an asteroid is on course to enter orbit around our planet. The 33-foot-wide asteroid, named 2024 PT5, will begin orbiting Earth from September 29 and will stay in our vicinity until November 25. NASA first detected this asteroid, which has been dubbed 2024 PT5, using the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on August 7. Telescopes will be able to spot the asteroid as it enters orbit.
Small asteroids like 2024 PT5 become captured in Earth’s gravitational field when they come within 28 million miles of our planet. Researchers from the Complutense University of Madrid have predicted PT5’s orbital path based on its trajectory analysis. Paul Chodas, the director of NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies, mentioned that 2024 PT5 could potentially be debris from an impact on the moon, rather than a completely new moon. This indicates that PT5 might be a fragment of our current moon.
Following a similar path to another asteroid, 2022 NX1, which entered Earth’s orbit in 2022, PT5 will be classified as a mini-moon if it successfully completes a full orbit around Earth. Mini-moons are small asteroids or natural objects that temporarily get caught in Earth’s gravitational pull, circling the planet. Unlike the primary moon, these mini-moons are significantly smaller and do not stay in orbit for extended periods. They typically remain within Earth’s gravitational influence for weeks, months, or a few years before either escaping back into space or burning up in the atmosphere. Mini-moons are challenging to detect due to their small size, usually just a few meters in diameter.
An example of a previous mini-moon is 2020 CD3, which was captured by Earth in 2018 and orbited the planet until 2020 before departing. The phenomenon of mini-moons presents a unique and rare occurrence in our understanding of celestial objects and their interactions with Earth. As 2024 PT5 is set to join the ranks of mini-moons orbiting our planet, astronomers and enthusiasts alike eagerly await its arrival and study its journey around Earth.