Earth is about to have a temporary visitor a "mini moon", though much smaller than its regular one. This mini moon is actually an newly discovered asteroid which is about the size of a school bus, measuring 10 meters across. On Sunday, it will pass close enough to Earth that our planet's gravity will temporarily trap it, causing it to orbit Earth for about two months. While this "mini moon" won’t be visible to the naked eye, it offers an intriguing opportunity for astronomers to study these short-lived space companions.
The space rock, officially named 2024 PT5, was first discovered in August by astronomers at Complutense University of Madrid. They used a powerful telescope located in Sutherland, South Africa, to spot the asteroid. According to Richard Binzel, an astronomer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, these short-term mini moons are probably more common than we realize. The last one was detected in 2020.
"This happens fairly often, but they're usually very small and hard to detect," Binzel explained. "Only recently has our technology improved enough to routinely spot them."
The discovery by Carlos and Raúl de la Fuente Marcos was published by the American Astronomical Society. Unfortunately, this mini moon won’t be visible to the naked eye or through amateur telescopes. However, it can be observed with large, research-grade telescopes, according to Carlos de la Fuente Marcos.
There’s still some mystery about whether 2024 PT5 is an asteroid or a piece of the moon that was blasted off, said Binzel, who was not involved in the research. Despite this uncertainty, the mini moon will orbit the Earth for 57 days, though it won’t complete a full orbit. On November 25, it will break free from Earth's gravity and continue its journey through space.
Interestingly, 2024 PT5 is expected to pass by Earth again in 2055, giving astronomers another opportunity to study this intriguing space rock as it continues its solo trip through the cosmos.
The temporary visit of 2024 PT5 offers scientists a rare chance to study a mini moon in detail. Events like these not only deepen our understanding of space objects and their behavior but also demonstrate how far technology has come in detecting and observing such rare occurrences. While its stay is short, it highlights the exciting and ever-evolving nature of our understanding of space. This event reminds us of the continuous discoveries waiting in the vastness of the cosmos.
(This story has been slightly reworked from an auto-generated PTI feed)
