A mini-moon or the tiny asteroid named 2024 PT5 is currently orbiting Earth and it is going to continue in its path until November 25 before escaping its gravitational field.
The asteroid, or mini-moon called 2024 PT5 was discovered on Aug 7 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), a NASA-funded automated system to monitor near-earth objects.
The American Astronomical Society's Research Notes said that Earth's temporary "mini-moon" can be viewed with professional equipment because of its small size and dull rock composition.
The asteroid is just 10 meters in diameter and will be undetectable by the naked eye.
What's a mini-moon?
Small asteroids like Mini-moons are sometimes pulled by the Earth's gravitational force as they get too close to its orbit, allowing them to temporarily revolve around it.
These tiny space entities are often found around the sun just like other asteroids, and do not stick around for long. They orbit our planet before charting its path around the sun.
Mini-moons are typically of interest to scientists as they get a chance to study near-earth objects and know more about how the solar system works.
How long will it orbit Earth?
According to data from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Horizons system, this mini-moon’s stay will be brief.
The temporary capture will end at 11:43 a.m. EDT on November 25, 2024.
Is it like the Earth's permanent moon?
Well, not quite so! Earth's permanent moon is about 2,159 miles (3475 km) in diameter, while 2024 PT5 is believed to be just 37 feet wide. So, our moon is over 3,00,000 times wider than this tiny asteroid.
Despite their smaller size, capturing these objects are natural cosmic laboratory. Studying these can help scientists and astronomers in future space missions.
Where did this mini-moon or 2024 PT5 come from?
2024 PT5 is believed to be part of the Arjuna asteroid belt. This particular group of asteroids follow orbits similar to Earth’s, about 93 million miles from the sun.
“Asteroid 2024 PT5 will not describe a full orbit around Earth. You may say that if a true satellite is like a customer buying goods inside a store, objects like 2024 PT5 are window shoppers,” Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, a professor and mini-moon expert from the Complutense University, was quoted as saying by the Space.com.
The asteroids from this belt can approach Earth at a close range of around 2.8 million miles and a considerably low velocity of less than 2,200 miles (3,541 km) per hour.
Dr Anil Kumar, head of ISRO's Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) has also confirmed that the mini-moon is part of the Arjuna Asteroid grouping.
Are these sightings common?
Contrary to what some would believe, these extraordinary-sounding events are relatively common.
There have been two “short captures,” which were officially documented. These lasted about a week and are estimated to occur several times per decade. There have also been two rarer “long-capture” events.
Who can see the mini-moon?
As the asteroid is too small and dull, it can not be seen through typical amateur telescopes and binoculars.
It can only be seen through typical telescopes with a diameter of at least 30 inches plus a CCD or CMOS detector used by professional astronomers.
