In a rare astronomical event, an asteroid headed for Earth called 2024 PT5 is set to have an unusual fate. Instead of colliding with the planet’s atmosphere, as other asteroids usually do, 2024 PT5 is likely to get trapped in Earth’s orbit and become a small moon. However, 2024 PT5 is likely to stay in Earth’s gravitational pull for only two months.
Asteroid 2024 PT5 was discovered on August 7 by two astronomers from the Complutense University of Madrid, Carlos de la Fuente Marcos and Raúl de la Fuente Marcos, using NASA’s asteroid impact early warning system Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).
According to a report published in Research Notes of the American Astronomical SocietyThe two astronomers stressed that 2024 PT5 is about 10 meters (33 feet) in diameter and will be captured in Earth’s orbit for a brief period between September 29 and November 25. During this two-month period, 2024 PT5 will orbit around Earth but will not complete a full orbit; it will break free from Earth’s gravitational pull and return to orbit the Sun and continue its journey through the solar system.
In simple words, the Earth will have two moons for a total of 56.6 days.
“This is pretty cool,” said Federica Spoto, an asteroid dynamics researcher at the Harvard & Smithsonian’s Center for Astrophysics.
“2024 PT5 will help scientists better understand asteroids that come close to Earth — some of which sometimes collide with it,” Spoto said.
Mini-Moon
The study further states that 2024 PT5 is “unlikely to be artificial.” It is not just space debris. Researchers suggest it could be defined as a near-Earth object with an orbit similar to that of our planet.
Unfortunately, it will be too faint to be seen with the naked eye, researchers said. According to NASA JPL, 2024 PT5 has an absolute magnitude of 27.6, which is too faint to be visible through most amateur telescopes.
According to Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2024 PT5 is likely a fragment of the Moon, possibly ejected by a past lunar impact.
Researchers further said that 2024 PT5 is expected to orbit the Earth several times with small moons. The asteroid will return to Earth’s orbit in January 2025 and then quickly leave and return again in 2055.
