Say hello to 2024 PT5, Earth’s newest mini-moon. Expected to go into orbit of Earth for a couple of months from Sept. 29, 2024 PT5 is a near-Earth asteroid that’s about to be captured by our planet for a short time before being released back into the solar system to orbit the sun.
Here’s why, when and everything else you need to know about Earth’s mini-moon:
Mini-Moon: What Is 2024 PT5?
2024 PT5 is a near-Earth asteroid and is 11 meters in diameter — about the same as two giraffes. It’s known as an Arjuna asteroid and its existence has been revealed by a study published in the journal Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society.
Approaching Earth at close range and at a low relative velocity, it will go into orbit on Sept. 29 and depart on Nov. 25, when it returns to orbiting the sun. It will also come very close to Earth on Jan. 9, 2025, the report states.
Earth regularly captures NEOs and pulls them into orbit, making them mini-moons, according to the researchers, which describe the mini-moon as a “temporarily captured flyby.”
Mini-Moon: Where Is 2024 PT5?
2024 PT5 is currently in the constellation Draco, in the northern hemisphere’s northern sky, according to The SkyLive. It’s about 1.9 million miles (three million km) from Earth.
Can we see the mini-moon? No. At magnitude 22, it’s way too faint to see with the naked eye, or even powerful backyard telescopes. Only astronomers using large professional 30-inch telescopes will be able to see it.
Mini-Moon: Where Did 2024 PT5 Come From?
NEAs — of which 2004 PT5 is one — is generally thought to have come from the Main Asteroid Belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. 2024 PT5 is specifically from the Arjuna Asteroid belt, which has an Earth-like orbit around the sun. It will go slow enough and get close enough to Earth to briefly go into orbit from Sept. 29, when Earth’s gravitational pull will pull it closer, causing it to go into orbit.
It was discovered on Aug. 7 by South Africa’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope, which also found the imminent naked-eye comet A3.
Earth’s Other Moons
Although there is only one true orbiting object around Earth — the moon — our planet does have quasi-satellites. One is Kamo’oalewa, which moves in sync with Earth in a 1-to-1 resonance, so appears to orbit Earth despite actually orbiting the sun.
Also called 2016 HO3, Kamo’oalewa — meaning “oscillating celestial object” in Hawaiian — is about 130 to 330 feet (40 to 100 meters) across, which is about the same size as the Statue of Liberty. It was discovered in 2016.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
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