Asteroid 2024 PT5 set to become Earth’s temporary mini-moon

In a rare celestial event, an asteroid named 2024 PT5 is heading toward Earth but will not follow the usual trajectory of smashing through the planet’s atmosphere. Instead, it is likely to be trapped in Earth’s orbit and become a mini-moon for a brief period of two months.

Discovery of asteroid 2024 PT5

Asteroid 2024 PT5 was discovered on August 7 by two astronomers, Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, and Raúl de la Fuente Marcos, from the Complutense University of Madrid. They identified the asteroid using NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), designed to provide early warnings of potential asteroid impacts.

According to the Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, 2024 PT5, which is approximately 10 meters (33 feet) in diameter, will be captured by Earth’s gravitational pull between September 29 and November 25. During this time, it will loop around Earth but will not complete a full orbit. After this period, the asteroid will break free from Earth’s gravity and return to its original path around the Sun.

Earth’s second moon for 56 days

For a total of 56.6 days, Earth will temporarily have two moons. Although 2024 PT5 will be close, it will not be visible to the naked eye due to its dim magnitude of 27.6, which is too faint for most amateur telescopes to detect.

Scientific significance of 2024 PT5

Federica Spoto, an asteroid dynamics researcher at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, expressed excitement about this event, stating that it will help scientists understand asteroids that come close to Earth—some of which could potentially collide with the planet.

2024 PT5’s origins and future visits

Researchers believe 2024 PT5 is not an artificial object but a near-Earth object with a similar orbit to our planet. Some speculate that it could be a fragment of the moon, ejected by a past lunar impact. The asteroid is expected to make multiple visits, returning to Earth’s orbit in January 2025 and again in 2055.