A mini-moon is going to make an unexpected visit to Earth, but keep an eye out or you might miss it. A tiny asteroid called 2024 PT5, which will briefly be attracted to Earth and orbit it for a mere two months before vanishing into space, has recently been found by astronomers.
This brief appearance of the mini-moon will begin on September 29 and end on November 25.
Astronomers predict that 2024 PT5, or what they believe to be an asteroid but have nicknamed a "mini-moon," will circle the planet from September 29 to November 25. Eventually, the planet's gravitational orbit will be broken.
The mini-moon will unfortunately be very difficult to see from Earth because it is just approximately 10 meters in diameter, but it will still be there for nearly two months. The asteroid was first identified by NASA on August 7. It is expected to return to the Arjuna asteroid belt after exiting Earth's orbit.
According to studies by Carlos and Raúl de la Fuente Marcos, "Earth can regularly capture asteroids from the Near-Earth object (NEO) population and pull them into orbit, making them mini-moons."
Any matter, asteroid or not, that is "nudged" toward Earth's vicinity by the gravitational pull of other planets is considered a Near-Earth Object, according to NASA. Tens of thousands of asteroids have their orbits tracked by NASA's own program, which maintains data pages for each NEO with orbital parameters and close approach reports.
According to Paul Chodas, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Center for Near Earth Object Studies, 2024 PT5 may be a fragment of lunar ejecta, suggesting that the mini-moon began as a fragment of the original moon, as reported by the New York Times.
There are several different kinds of mini-moons, according to studies. Initially known as "temporary captured orbiters," these are extended periods of time during which bodies complete one or more orbits of the planet and can stay in its orbit for several months or even years. The second kind, which include the impending mini-moon, are called "temporary captured flybys" since they don't complete a full revolution and only spend a little amount of time in Earth's orbit.
Will there be two moons?
Earth's gravitational pull will snare a small asteroid, turning it into a temporary "mini-moon". Beginning on September 29, this space tourist will be in orbit for a few months before once more evading Earth's gravitational pull.
Do we have two moons?
The short answer is that there is only one moon on Earth, which we refer to as "the moon." Apart from Earth, it is the only body in the solar system that humans have visited during space exploration, making it the biggest and brightest object in the night sky. The longer and trickier explanation is that there are now fewer moons than there formerly were.
Ola Hansen 
A mini-moon is going to make an unexpected visit to Earth, but keep an eye out or you might miss it. A tiny asteroid called 2024 PT5, which will briefly be attracted to Earth and orbit it for a mere two months before vanishing into space, has recently been found by astronomers.
This brief appearance of the mini-moon will begin on September 29 and end on November 25.
Astronomers predict that 2024 PT5, or what they believe to be an asteroid but have nicknamed a "mini-moon," will circle the planet from September 29 to November 25. Eventually, the planet's gravitational orbit will be broken.
The mini-moon will unfortunately be very difficult to see from Earth because it is just approximately 10 meters in diameter, but it will still be there for nearly two months. The asteroid was first identified by NASA on August 7. It is expected to return to the Arjuna asteroid belt after exiting Earth's orbit.
According to studies by Carlos and Raúl de la Fuente Marcos, "Earth can regularly capture asteroids from the Near-Earth object (NEO) population and pull them into orbit, making them mini-moons."
Any matter, asteroid or not, that is "nudged" toward Earth's vicinity by the gravitational pull of other planets is considered a Near-Earth Object, according to NASA. Tens of thousands of asteroids have their orbits tracked by NASA's own program, which maintains data pages for each NEO with orbital parameters and close approach reports.
According to Paul Chodas, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Center for Near Earth Object Studies, 2024 PT5 may be a fragment of lunar ejecta, suggesting that the mini-moon began as a fragment of the original moon, as reported by the New York Times.
There are several different kinds of mini-moons, according to studies. Initially known as "temporary captured orbiters," these are extended periods of time during which bodies complete one or more orbits of the planet and can stay in its orbit for several months or even years. The second kind, which include the impending mini-moon, are called "temporary captured flybys" since they don't complete a full revolution and only spend a little amount of time in Earth's orbit.
Will there be two moons?
Earth's gravitational pull will snare a small asteroid, turning it into a temporary "mini-moon". Beginning on September 29, this space tourist will be in orbit for a few months before once more evading Earth's gravitational pull.
Do we have two moons?
The short answer is that there is only one moon on Earth, which we refer to as "the moon." Apart from Earth, it is the only body in the solar system that humans have visited during space exploration, making it the biggest and brightest object in the night sky. The longer and trickier explanation is that there are now fewer moons than there formerly were.