The ‘Mini Moon’ 2024

Blog Credit : Trupti Thakur

Image Courtesy : Google

The Mini Moon of Earth

From September 29 to November 25, 2024, Earth will have a temporary companion called asteroid 2024 PT5. This asteroid will orbit around our planet for two months, acting like a mini-moon. However, it will not be visible to the naked eye or even most amateur telescopes because it is too faint.

What is a mini-moon?

A mini-moon is a small asteroid that gets temporarily caught by Earth’s gravity. Unlike our permanent Moon, these mini-moons stay for a short period and then move away. Asteroid 2024 PT5, which is about 10 meters (33 feet) in size, will be one of these mini-moons, briefly orbiting alongside our Moon during its time near Earth.

Characteristics of Asteroid 2024 PT5

Asteroid 2024 PT5 was first spotted by NASA’s ATLAS Programon August 7, 2024. Its path is similar to other asteroids from the Arjuna asteroid belt. Instead of making a complete orbit around Earth, it will follow a horseshoe-shaped path before breaking free from Earth’s gravity and continuing its journey in space.

Scientific Importance

This mini-moon gives scientists a chance to learn more about how near-Earth objects behave when they come close to our planet. By studying how asteroid 2024 PT5 interacts with Earth’s gravity, astronomers can improve their ability to predict the paths of other asteroids in the future.

Historical Context of Mini-Moons

Yes, Earth has had other mini-moons in the past. For example, one orbited our planet from July 2006 to July 2007. Another asteroid, called 2022 NX1, temporarily orbited Earth in 1981 and again in 2022. These events show that Earth occasionally catches small asteroids in its gravitational field.

Can we see asteroid 2024 PT5?

Even though this mini-moon is interesting, it will be very hard to see. With a brightness magnitude of 22, only very advanced observatories will be able to detect it. Most people, even with good telescopes, won’t be able to watch its passage.

About mini-moons

Mini-moons are temporary natural satellites that orbit Earth after being captured by its gravity. They are often small—usually just a few meters in diameter—and stay in orbit for only a short time, typically a few months. The most famous mini-moon, called 2006 RH120, orbited Earth for about a year. These objects help scientists better understand the movement and dynamics of asteroids in space, but they are very different from our permanent Moon.

Overview

According to a new study, the Earth’s gravitational field will temporarily capture a small asteroid, called 2024 PT5, in late September. The asteroid will stay for two months before flying off into space. While gaining a “mini-moon” is not new for Earth, the phenomenon is rare — in most cases, asteroids either miss the planet or burn upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere.

A team of scientists discovered 2024 PT5 on August 7 and published their findings in the journal Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society earlier this month.

What is a ‘mini-moon’?

Mini-moons are asteroids that fail to escape Earth’s gravity and end up orbiting the planet for some time. They are usually very small and hard to detect — only four mini-moons of Earth have ever been discovered, and none are still orbiting Earth, according to a report by The Planetary Society.

“Some may actually have been space debris. The Gaia spacecraft was once mistaken for a minimoon, and so were rocket stages from the Chang’e 2 and Lunar Prospector missions,” the report said.

What do we know about 2024 PT5?

The asteroid was discovered with the help of the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). It is estimated to be just 33 feet long and is too small to be visible to the naked eye or through typical amateur telescopes. However, the asteroid is within the brightness range of telescopes used by professional astronomers.

Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, professor at the Complutense University of Madrid and lead author of the study, told Space.com that 2024 PT5 has come to visit from “the Arjuna asteroid belt, a secondary asteroid belt made of space rocks that follow orbits very similar to that of Earth” at an average distance to the Sun of about 150 million kilometres.

The asteroid could possibly be a “piece of ejecta from an impact on the moon”, Paul Chodas, the director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), told The New York Times. This means that 2024 PT5 could be a small fragment of the actual moon.

Some researchers suggest that chances are 2024 PT5 does not qualify as a mini-moon. An asteroid has to orbit the Earth fully at least once — 2024 PT5 will perform a horseshoe-shaped orbit. Lance Benner, the principal investigator of the asteroid radar research program at the JPL, told The NYT: “It certainly won’t complete one full revolution in the Earth-moon system this fall, so I’m not sure I would classify it as a mini-moon.”

Why is this significant?

The observations of 2024 PT5 will help scientists expand the knowledge of asteroids that pass close to the Earth and those that sometimes collide with it.

 

 

Blog By : Trupti Thakur