OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
4:17 PM – Monday, November 25, 2024
A small asteroid that spent around two months in Earth’s orbit is now reportedly leaving. On Monday, the sun’s strong force is expected to drive the asteroid, known as “2024 PT5,” away from Earth.
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On September 29th, it entered Earth’s orbit from the Arjuna asteroid belt, which orbits the sun similarly to Earth. Some have also referred to it as a “mini-moon.”
Evidence now points to the asteroid visiting its cosmic parents just before it is about to disappear from view.
“Current research favors its rapid rotation with a rotational period under one hour, to be expected if 2024 PT5 is either a large boulder from the surface of the moon or a fragment from a larger object,” said Universidad Complutense de Madrid professor Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, in a statement to Space.com.
According to him, the most plausible explanation is that the asteroid was thrown from the moon’s surface following one of the numerous impacts that have left the moon’s surface marked by its recognizable craters.
“This object has helped the community to realize that lunar ejecta is probably a main source for the material that constitutes the Arjuna asteroid belt,” Marcos told the outlet.
What is a mini moon?
The “Mini-moon” phenomena happens when drifting space debris or asteroids briefly circle the Earth. Some of them stay in orbit for a few months, weeks, or even days, while others rip away after a full cycle around the planet.
Marcos stated that for an object to be classified as a “mini-moon,” it must strike Earth at a distance of approximately 2.8 million miles and at a constant speed of roughly 2,200 miles per hour. In late September, he told Space.com that the asteroid fulfilled those requirements.
However, “NASA said 2024 PT5 does not qualify as a ‘mini-moon’ because it was never captured by Earth’s gravity and remained more of a ‘distant companion of our planet’ rather than a satellite. ‘So while it’s not quite a ‘mini-moon,’ 2024 PT5 is an interesting object, and NASA has plans to track it with planetary radar,” NASA spokespersons said, reported by USA Today.
Nevertheless, 2024 PT5 is still too small to be seen from Earth without a powerful telescope since it is barely 33-feet wide.
“The object is too small and dim for typical amateur telescopes and binoculars. However, the object is well within the brightness range of typical telescopes used by professional astronomers,” Marcos told Space.com.
The asteroid 2024 PT5 will approach again on January 9th after being dragged away from Earth on Monday, he added.
Meanwhile, NASA noted that the agency will use the Goldstone Solar System Radar, which is located in the Mojave Desert near Barstow, California, to track 2024 PT5 during its upcoming close flyby of Earth.
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