2024 PT5: All about the asteroid that will become Earth's mini moon for two months
Earth's moon will have company for almost two months: a second moon. According to a study published in the journal Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, 2024 PT5, an asteroid from the Arjuna asteroid belt, will technically be caught in the Earth's gravitational pull rather than a second moon.
This is the number of mini-moons that form. When an object in space experiences Earth's gravitational pull, it can turn into an orbiter by fully rotating around the planet, or it can be called a flyby if it only partially rotates around the planet, as 2024 PT5 is currently doing. The horseshoe-shaped trajectory of 2024 PT5, which was discovered on August 7, indicates that it will complete a semi-orbit of Earth before resuming its regular orbit around the sun. The mini-moon, according to researchers, will occur between September 29 and November 25.
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Paul Chodas, head of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Center for Near Earth Object Studies, told the New York Times that there's a chance the asteroid came from Earth's moon because of its motion. Although it may not be visible to the average person every day, the Earth's moon has had companions in the past.
The study stated that the Earth can routinely grab asteroids from the Near-Earth object (NEO) population and drag them into orbit, transforming them into miniature moons. According to researchers, a flyby known as 2022 NX1 occurred in both
