Get ready for a celestial spectacle! Earth is about to get a temporary second moon for two months this year, thanks to a small asteroid named 2024 PT5, CBS News reports.
Discovered in August by researchers at the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), 2024 PT5 is set to become a mini-moon, orbiting our planet from September 29th to November 25th.
Scientists from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid tracked the asteroid’s orbit and determined its path. 2024 PT5 originates from the Arjuna asteroid belt, which orbits the sun. However, Earth’s gravitational pull will draw it in, causing it to temporarily orbit our planet in a horseshoe-shaped path, similar to our moon.
While other near-Earth objects (NEOs) have entered Earth’s orbit before, not all complete a full revolution. But 2024 PT5 is unique. It will become a true mini-moon, albeit for a short period.
This isn’t the first time Earth has had a mini-moon. The asteroid 2020 CD3 was bound to Earth for several years before leaving in 2020. Another, called 2022 NX1, became a mini-moon in 1981 and 2022, and is expected to return again in 2051.
2024 PT5, larger than some previous mini-moons, will also return to Earth’s orbit, this time in 2055. Earth’s gravity will pull it in, giving it negative geocentric energy, meaning it cannot escape. It will then orbit in a horseshoe shape before reverting back to heliocentric energy, returning to its orbit around the sun.
Even after leaving Earth’s orbit, 2024 PT5 will remain close for a few months, making its closest approach on January 9th, 2025. It will then leave Earth’s neighborhood until its path brings it back in about 30 years.
While 2024 PT5 will be too small to see with amateur telescopes or binoculars, professional astronomers with stronger tools will be able to observe it, according to the report.
