TWO THE MOON AND BACK: Earth to get a temporary second ‘moon’
Fideliz Joyce Dechavez
From asteroids to planets, astronomers have been on the continuous look out for interstellar activity, however, this time it’s closer than we think.
A recently published study by the American Astronomical Society (AAS), found that the Earth is about to get a second mini-moon from September 29 until November 25, 2024.
This mini-moon event will occur when the asteroid known as the “2024 PT5”, originating from the Arjuna asteroid belt gets captured by the planet’s gravitational pull and eventually orbits the Earth.
Classified as a Near Earth object (NEOs), the 2024 PT5 follows a horseshoe shaped path as it slowly approaches our planet and will have negative geocentric energy, which allows it to stay within the planet’s gravitational field.
Additionally, it was first seen by the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System last August 7, 2024 using an instrument located in Sutherland, South Africa.
Despite being called a moon, the asteroid measures to be only approximately 10 meters in size —about the height of a 3-story house, making it difficult to see using the naked eye. Currently, only advanced telescopes used by astronomers are going to be able to see it.
“The object is unlikely to be artificial as its short-term dynamical evolution closely resembles that of 2022 NX1, a confirmed natural object.” researchers Carlos de la Fuente Marcos and Raull de la Fuente Marcos added to their study.
The 2024 PT5 is also projected to return to the Earth’s orbit as a mini-moon once again in 2055, similar to its predecessor 2022 NX1 which initially became a mini-moon in 1981 and returned in 2022.