2 days Ago
In a rare celestial event, a mini-moon will stay around Earth for 56 days, starting September 29. A study shows that the asteroid, 2024 PT5, will orbit Earth till November 25, 2024. According to a report published in the Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, Asteroid 2024 PT5 was discovered on August 7 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System.
With a size of 10 metres, the asteroid follows a horseshoe path and will not make a full orbit. “Near-Earth objects (NEOs) that follow horseshoe paths, and approach our planet at close range and low relative velocity, may undergo mini-moon events in which their geocentric energy becomes negative for hours, days or months, but without completing one revolution around Earth while bound,” the report read. Mini-moons are those asteroids that fail to escape Earth’s gravity, altering their trajectory and ending up orbiting the planet for a time.
The small, fast-moving asteroids are difficult to detect and identify. Raúl de la Fuente Marcos, an astronomer at the Complutense University of Madrid and co-author of the study, told The New York Times , “Every time an object with an orbit so Earth-like is discovered, there is a chance that we are just recovering space debris.” However, this time it actually a “natural object”, she added.
Research suggests that the mini-moons hold valuable minerals and water that can be used for rocket fuel, making them ideal “stepping stones” for companies preparing to mine asteroids. The asteroid 2024 PT5 is not a mini-moon technically, as it will not complete one full revolution around Earth but will remain in the planet’s orbit for over 56 days. Livescience quoting the new study said 2024 PT5 likely originated from the Arjuna asteroid belt — a diverse jumble of space rocks that orbit the sun close to our planet.
Calculations indicate the asteroid will orbit Earth again in January 2025 and then in 2055. Amateur astronomer Tony Dunn posted a simulation to X of what the asteroid’s path will look like. 2024 PT5 has already been near Earth since July.
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, as mentioned by CNET .
A report confirmed that 2024 PT5 is not an artificial object as its “short-term dynamical evolution closely resembles that of 2022 NX1,” a confirmed natural object. Sometimes, Earth pulls space junk or Space debris into its orbit, which revolves around Earth. “Earth can regularly capture asteroids from the Near-Earth object (NEO) population and pull them into orbit, making them mini-moons,” the researchers wrote in a journal, Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society.
“The recently discovered Apollo-class NEO 2024 PT5 follows a path that resembles that of 2022 NX1 and may soon become a mini-moon”. As per Paul Chodas, director of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2024 PT5 might be a fragment from the Moon, possibly ejected by a past lunar impact. Researchers say 2024 PT5 will be too faint for the naked eye or most amateur telescopes.
With a magnitude of 22, it will only be visible to advanced observatories. A similar mini-moon was discovered to be random pieces of space junk in 2020. The 2020 mini-moon was eventually identified as a rocket booster from the 1966 Surveyor 2 Centaur launch, as per a report by CNET .
Asteroid 2006 RH120 revolved around the Earth for a year from July 2006 to July 2007 July. The 2024 PT5 asteroid shares similarities with 2022 NX1, a temporary flyby that orbited Earth in 1981 and again in 2022 without completing a full orbit. It is expected to return for another semi-orbit around 2051.
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