According to a recent study published in Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, a team of scientists studying “mini-moon events”, discovered a tiny asteroid headed towards Earth, during routine monitoring on August 7
The study titled ‘A Two-month Mini moon: 2024 PT5 Captured by Earth from September to November’, states: “Asteroid 2024 PT5 was discovered on August 7, 2024, by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System observing with the instrument located in Sutherland, South Africa.”
The scientists observed the peculiar dynamic properties of this asteroid from the Arjuna asteroid belt, a group of asteroids trailing the Earth and orbiting the Sun, 93 million miles away.
The asteroid 2024 PT5 will be drawn by the Earth’s gravitational pull, becoming a “mini-moon”, and will orbit the planet for about two months, from September 29 to November 25, before it returns to its home in the asteroid belt.
Researchers predict that the 33-foot-long asteroid will make a horseshoe-shaped orbit around Earth and exit the orbit before completing a full rotation around the Earth.
The study adds that the asteroid is expected to return to the planet’s orbit in 2055. However, the mini moon will not be visible to the naked eye or with amateur telescopes, due to its small size, according to the study.
Marcos added that professional-grade telescopes with a diameter of at least 30 inches and a charge-coupled device or complementary metal oxide semiconductor detector, will be needed to view the mini-moon.
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