Mini-Moon 2024

Mini-Moon 2024

The mini-moon, an asteroid called 2024 PT5, was spotted by the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on Aug. 7. The asteroid will orbit our planet between Sept. 29 and Nov. 25 before escaping Earth's gravity.

Asteroid 2024 PT5 won't complete a full orbit of Earth, so some astronomers refer to it as a temporarily captured flyby. Mini-moons that do complete a total orbit of Earth are referred to as temporarily captured orbiters.

During the event, the asteroid's geocentric energy will become negative and remain that way for 56.6 days. In Dunn's simulation, the orbit is shown as the red line, and it only circles about 25% of the Earth.



Some past mini-moons, such as this one from 2020, have been discovered to be random pieces of space junk. The 2020 mini-moon was eventually identified as a rocket booster from the 1966 Surveyor 2 Centaur launch. But ATLAS reports this upcoming mini-moon is likely to be a real asteroid, which is defined as:

asteroid (noun)

1. A naturally occurring solid object, which is smaller than a planet and a dwarf planet, larger than a meteoroid and not a comet, that orbits a star and often has an irregular shape.
2. In the Solar system, such a body that orbits within the orbit of Jupiter.

Don't expect to see the mini-moon. It's unlikely you'll see the mini-moon. NASA says the absolute magnitude of 2024 PT5 is 27.593. That means it's quite dim and won't be visible even if you have a telescope.

The researchers who found it published a non peer-reviewed study about the asteroid. Noting its path, they were able to estimate its origins. They found that Asteroid 2024 PT5 likely came from the Arjuna asteroid belt, which is made up of many asteroids with orbits around the sun similar to Earth's. They also note that it is not likely that Asteroid 2024 PT5 is a piece of space junk because it has a path similar to another object that has a natural origin.

Due to Asteroid 2024 PT5's orbit being closely matched to Earth's, calculations indicate the asteroid will orbit Earth again in January 2025 and then in 2055.

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