What a thrilling month for Earth! Finally, it has found a new friend in space, and what kind of friend? A mini moon that actually happened to be a small asteroid. It’s going to be our companion from September 29 to November 25. So what does it mean for us? Why does it have to go away after a while? Well, let’s get excited and know everything about it!
What is a mini moon?
A mini moon is a small asteroid that becomes gravitationally bound to Earth. Once this happens, it begins orbiting Earth. This is very rare! Normally, if asteroids approach Earth, they either impact with us or just pass by. Sometimes, however, they get trapped in our gravitational field and then become mini moons.
Our New Mini Moon: 2024 PT5
It is called 2024 PT5. The mini moon is just about 33 feet in length. For two months, from September 29 to November 25, the satellite will be going around the Earth in a weird way. Instead of orbiting around like our regular moon, it will go around this time in a horseshoe orbit. Then it will just fly out into space, leaving our gravity.
Why Is It Here for Only a Short Time?
Unlike our primary moon, which we’ve had around for nearly four billion years, mini moons do not stay long. They spend only a short time here in the sky before they are flung back into outer space. 2024 PT5 will only visit us for almost 56.6 days. Then it will depart to continue on its way in the solar system.
Can We See the Mini Moon?
Unfortunately, most people will not be able to see 2024 PT5. It is too small and faint to see with our eyes or even using regular telescopes. The only astronomers equipped with powerful telescopes can spot it. Therefore, though it may not be visually detected by many, it is still a scientific highlight .
Why Is This Important?
It is hard to see the mini moon, but for scientists, it is very important. Knowing more of these mini moons provides scientists more information about the other asteroids in space. These are not the first mini moons to pass by Earth. Before, there were mini moons like 2020 CD3 and 2022 NX1. They came and disappeared, but the scientists still gathered something valuable.
Visiting of Mini Moons by Future
Ironically, 2024 PT5 is going to come back into earth’s orbit in 2055! This one promises to be exciting as it will afford scientists a second glance at the object. There are approximately 25,000 asteroids that could become mini moons but only about 11,000 have been discovered so far. Every mini moon in earth is an opportunity to learn more from space.
Conclusion
Well, that is fairly interesting, Earth can experience a mini moon-like event through the asteroid 2024 PT5, which will sadly only hang out here for such a short time, but still manages to give scientists the opportunities to observe and learn about them and their type of asteroid. Although we may not be able to observe it with our naked eyes, we will appreciate how wonderful the universe is. Keep on watching the sky – see what else we find!
It is a very good thing for us people on Earth that we were able to see this scene. This scene comes once in many years.
