The wonders of space have always fascinated people, even beyond the science community. From supernovas to black holes, there has not been a dull moment with astronomy, which will now include Earth obtaining a new moon.
According to researchers from the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), the current asteroid will be able to fully orbit the Earth within the predicted time of 56.6 days. From Sept. 29 to Nov. 25, a mini-moon labeled 2024 PT5 will be orbiting the Earth due to our gravitational pull. Although the orbit will only be for a short period of time, it is stated that it will continue to be a neighbor to Earth until Jan. 9, 2025, before following its current path of travel around the universe.
Unfortunately, the mini-moon will not be observable with the naked eye, nor with regular telescopes or binoculars, as stated by Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, one of the two researchers who discovered the asteroid. The only way that this moon can be seen is through professional telescopes.
A group of researchers decided to label the asteroid 2024 PT5, originating from the Arjuna asteroid belt. According to de la Fuente Marcos’ research notes, the asteroid stretched about 10 meters in diameter when first discovered on Aug. 7 and will be following a horseshoe path around Earth in a close range. This is one of only five mini-moons that have been discovered to orbit Earth, like 1991 VG.
“Due to its small size, 2024 PT5 was completely unknown to us until August 7th of this year, the day before it made its closest approach to us, coming within 350,000 miles of the Earth. That’s a near miss in astronomical terms! […] Due to the varying pulls of gravity [from the Earth, Sun, and Moon], its orbit around us will take on a peculiar shape resembling that of a guitar pick.”
– Bellevue College’s Professor Joel Lamb (PhD in Astronomy & Astrophysics from the University of Michigan) on 2024 PT5
What is a Mini-Moon?
There have been many asteroids that cross paths with Earth throughout the billions of years it has existed, but how come they were never considered a mini-moon? The difference is ultimately in its orbit: When the gravitational pull of our planet is strong enough to cause an asteroid to orbit the Earth for a brief period of time, the asteroid transforms into a mini-moon in astronomical terms.
Although 2024 PT5 will not be visible to the naked eye, requiring a professional 30-inch telescope to see the faint moon, photos of the mini-moon will be available to view on NASA’s official website.
