Earth’s Temporary ‘Mini Moon’ Asteroid 2024 PT5 Set to Part Ways, Returns in January

Earth’s Mini Moon Departure

Planet Earth will soon part ways with a small asteroid that has acted as a “mini moon” for the last two months. This 33-foot space rock, called 2024 PT5, will leave Earth’s vicinity on Monday due to the stronger pull of the sun’s gravity. However, it will return for a brief visit in January.

NASA plans to use a radar antenna to study the asteroid during its January flyby. Scientists hope to learn more about this asteroid, which may be a piece of the moon that was ejected by an impact.

While NASA clarifies that 2024 PT5 is not technically a moon since it was never fully captured in Earth’s orbit, it is an interesting subject for research. The brothers Raul and Carlos de la Fuente Marcos from Complutense University of Madrid first identified the asteroid’s unique behavior and have conducted extensive observations using telescopes in the Canary Islands.

Currently, the asteroid is over 2 million miles away, making it too small and faint to view without high-powered telescopes. In January, it will pass within 1.1 million miles of Earth, a safe distance. After its flyby, it will continue on its orbit around the sun and won’t return until 2055, when it will be much farther away than the moon.

2024 PT5 was first detected in August and started its path around Earth in late September. It followed a horseshoe-shaped route as it came within the reach of Earth’s gravity. By January, it will be traveling faster, more than double its speed from September, making it unlikely to linger.

NASA will track the asteroid for over a week in January using the Goldstone solar system radar in California’s Mojave Desert. Data suggests that when it returns in 2055, the asteroid will again make a partial pass around Earth.