September 29, 2024
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Earth's orbit will capture an asteroid on Sunday, in a phenomenon astronomers refer to as a 'mini moon.' It will stick around until Nov. 25, according to NASA. Above, a file photo of the moon.
A small asteroid is briefly joining Earth's orbit, creating a phenomenon astronomers are referring to as a "mini moon."
Earth's gravitational pull will capture the second moon on Sunday, Space.com reported. But unlike Earth's main companion, the moon, which has been around for billions of years, this mini moon will only be here for a couple of months. The tiny asteroid, called PT5, will stick around until Nov. 25, according to NASA.
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The asteroid is about the size of a school bus at 33 feet, the Associated Press reported. It was spotted in August by astronomers at Complutense University of Madrid using a telescope located in Sutherland, South Africa.
"The object that is going to pay us a visit belongs to the Arjuna asteroid belt, a secondary asteroid belt made of space rocks that follow orbits very similar to that of Earth at an average distance to the sun of about 93 million miles," mini moon expert and Universidad Complutense de Madrid professor Carlos de la Fuente Marcos told Space.com. "Objects in the Arjuna asteroid belt are part of the near-Earth object population of asteroids and comets."
The mini moon won't be visible with the naked eye or with amateur telescopes, but can be viewed with the telescopes used by professional astronomers. The mini moon also won’t complete a full orbit around the Earth. On Nov. 25, it is expected to leave the Earth's orbit and return to an orbit around the sun. Experts believe it will pass by Earth again in 2055.
This won't be the first mini moon captured by the Earth. The Asteroid 2020 CD3 was first spotted around the Earth in February 2020 and departed a couple of months later. But, research showed it had orbited the planet for years before being detected.
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