Earth’s Temporary Moon: Asteroid 2024 PT5 to Orbit Our Planet for 2 Months

Scientists at the Complutense University of Madrid have announced that starting September 29, 2024, our planet will have an extra moon. The asteroid, called “2024 PT5,” will become Earth’s moon for a short period of about 2 months.

Asteroid 2024 PT5 was tracked by scientists with the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, a NASA-funded asteroid tracking system that uses equipment at Sutherland, South Africa.

Carlos Marcos, professor at the Complutense University of Madrid and head of the research group, explained that “Objects that will visit Earth this time are an asteroid from the Arjuna asteroid belt, which is a rocky asteroid belt and has an orbit similar to that of Earth. Objects in the asteroid belt are part of a group of near-Earth objects such as asteroids and comets.”

Asteroid 2024 PT5 is approximately 11 meters in diameter and has an orbital path close enough to Earth to be captured by Earth’s gravity during September 29 – November 25, 2024. During this period, 2024 PT5 will temporarily become the Earth’s moon, following a horseshoe trajectory for about 56 days before escaping the influence of the Earth’s gravitational pull and returning to orbit around the sun.

According to international astronomy, a “moon” is defined as “solid astronomical objects orbiting planets, dwarf planets, or asteroids.”

This is not the first time the Earth has attracted a temporary moon. In the past, the Earth has captured at least 5 asteroids, such as the asteroid 2006 RH120, which is small, about 2-3 meters, and orbited the Earth at a distance of 1.74 million km between July 2006 and July 2007.

Although many people are eager to see the new moon, its reduced dimensions mean it has a brightness level of only 27.6. To observe it, an 8-meter telescope exposed to light all night is needed, making it impossible for those who want to view it to be easily visible with their devices.

References:

• space.com (Earth will have another moon this month, but not for long)
• cbsnews.com (U.S. Earth will have a second “mini-moon” for 2 months this year)