Earth to get a new moon as asteroid heading for us will enter orbit
Earth is to get a new moon as an asteroid heading towards us will be trapped in orbit. From September 29, 33-foot-wide asteroid 2024 PT5 will orbit the Earth, staying with us until November 25.
NASA spotted the asteroid using its Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on August 7. The asteroid will be visible using telescopes when it drops into orbit.
Small asteroids get trapped in Earth's gravitational field when they pass within 28million miles of the planet. Researchers from the Complutense University of Madrid determined that PT5 will start circling the Earth after analysing its trajectory.
Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) told the New York Times that 2024 PT5 may be 'possibly a piece of ejecta from an impact on the moon'.
That would mean it isn't a new moon, but a broken off piece of our current moon. PT 5 is following a path similar to 2022 NX1, which was trapped in Earth orbit in 2022.
PT5 will count as a mini-moon if it completes a full orbit of the Earth. A mini-moon is a small asteroid or natural object that temporarily gets captured by Earth's gravity, entering into an orbit around the planet.
Unlike the Earth's main moon, mini-moons are typically much smaller and don't stay in orbit for long periods. They can remain in Earth's gravitational influence for weeks, months, or even a few years before either escaping back into space or burning up in the atmosphere.
These objects are rare and difficult to detect because of their small size, usually only a few meters in diameter. A mini-moon can be thought of as a temporary natural satellite of Earth. One example of a mini-moon is 2020 CD3, which was captured by Earth in 2018 and orbited the planet until 2020 before leaving orbit.