For the past two months, a 10-meter asteroid known as 2024 PT5 has been Earth’s temporary companion, affectionately dubbed a \"mini moon.\" This harmless space rock will bid farewell on Monday, succumbing to the stronger gravitational pull of the sun. However, it won't disappear entirely, as it will make a brief return visit in January.
NASA plans to observe 2024 PT5 using a radar antenna, aiming to deepen scientists' understanding of this intriguing object. There’s a possibility that 2024 PT5 is a fragment blasted off our actual moon by a past asteroid impact, making its study even more fascinating.
While it’s not technically a moon since it was never fully captured by Earth's gravity, NASA highlights that 2024 PT5 is an \"interesting object\" worthy of exploration. The asteroid was identified by astrophysicist brothers Raul and Carlos de la Fuente Marcos from Complutense University of Madrid, who have meticulously tracked its movement using telescopes in the Canary Islands.
Currently stationed over 3.5 million kilometers away, 2024 PT5 is too small and faint to be visible without powerful telescopic equipment. In January, it will approach as close as 1.8 million kilometers to Earth, maintaining a safe distance before continuing its orbit around the sun. This journey will take it out of reach until 2055, nearly five times farther than our moon.
First spotted in August, the asteroid began its semi-jog around Earth in late September, following a unique horseshoe-shaped path influenced by our planet's gravity. By the time it returns next year, 2024 PT5 will be moving at over double its September speed, making it impossible to remain as Earth's \"mini moon,\" according to Raul de la Fuente Marcos.
NASA’s Goldstone solar system radar antenna in California's Mojave Desert will track the asteroid for over a week in January, part of the Deep Space Network's efforts to monitor such celestial visitors. Current data suggests that during its 2055 visit, 2024 PT5 will once again make a temporary and partial lap around Earth, continuing its dance within our solar system.
Reference(s):
Earth's 'mini moon' may have been a chunk of our actual moon
cgtn.com
