Earth To Get A Mini-Moon For two Months? All You Want To Know

The RNAAS report says that Earth tends to tug asteroids into its orbit. (Representational)

Earth’s moon will quickly have a brief junior companion, an obvious mini moon revolving round our planet for about two months. In a uncommon occasion, an asteroid will likely be captured by Earth’s gravity and can orbit the earth from September 29 to November 25 this yr. 

The asteroid 2024 PT5 was noticed on August 7 utilizing the Asteroid Terrestrial-Affect Final Alert System (ATLAS), a NASA-funded asteroid influence early warning system. 

In accordance with a report revealed within the Analysis Notes of the American Astronomical Society, the asteroid will not be too massive with a diameter of simply 10 metre (33 toes). Throughout its 53-day tenure across the earth, 2024 PT5 won’t be able to make a full orbit, as an alternative it would carry out a horseshoe loop earlier than breaking away from the earth’s gravitational pull. 

The RNAAS report, authored by Carlos de la Fuente Marcos and Raul de la Fuente Marcos, says that Earth tends to seize asteroids and pull them into its orbit. These asteroids generally carry out a number of full revolutions round our planet whereas different instances, they break free from the earth’s elliptical path earlier than finishing an orbit.  

In 2006, an asteroid captured by Earth’s gravity revolved round it for a yr from July 2006 to July 2007. Nevertheless, the newly found 2024 PT5 appears to resemble the trail of 2022 NX1, a brief flyby that revolved round Earth in 1981 and 2022 with out ever finishing an orbit and can possible return to take one other semi spherical in 2051.

Whereas Earth might generally pull area junk into its orbit, the report says that 2024 PT5 is a pure object as “its short-term dynamical evolution intently resembles that of 2022 NX1, a confirmed pure object.” The report additionally signifies that its orbital properties resemble that of asteroids that come from the Arjuna asteroid belt.