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Scientists expect Earth to gain a temporary mini-moon by the end of this month, as a small asteroid is set to be held in Earth’s gravitational grip until the end of the year. The asteroid, known as 2024 PT5, was spotted by the Asteroid Land Impact Alert System (ATLAS) on August 7.
The asteroid orbits Earth for 57 days.
Asteroid 2024 PT5 is expected to orbit Earth in 57 days, making its full orbit between September 29 and November 25. Despite its proximity, it will be difficult to spot due to its small size, measuring only about 10 meters in diameter.
Previous examples of temporary moons
Scientists have suggested that Earth has captured temporary extra moons in the past, such as asteroid 2022 NX1, which briefly orbited our planet in 2022 before drifting away.
Scientific explanation for the phenomenon of small moons
In a paper published in the journal Research Notes of the AAS, the researchers showed that Earth is capable of capturing near-Earth asteroids and temporarily turning them into mini-moons. The calculations showed that asteroid 2024 PT5 follows a similar path to asteroid 2022 NX1.
NASA considers any space object that comes within 120 million miles of Earth to be a “near-Earth object,” and monitors the positions and orbits of about 28,000 asteroids using ATLAS. The agency estimates that Earth faces only a small risk of a devastating asteroid impact in the next 100 years.
According to the study, asteroid 2024 PT5 is likely to orbit Earth again in January 2025 and then in 2055, which makes scientists curious about the recurrence of such phenomena.