Earth will briefly welcome a new celestial companion — a “mini-moon.” This mini-moon is actually a small asteroid, measuring about 33 feet (10 meters), roughly the size of a school bus. Known as 2024 PT5, the asteroid is set to be temporarily captured by Earth’s gravity on Sunday, orbiting the planet for approximately two months before continuing its journey through space.
The asteroid was first detected in August by astronomers Carlos de la Fuente Marcos and Raúl de la Fuente Marcos from the Complutense University of Madrid. They spotted the mini-moon using a powerful telescope based in Sutherland, South Africa. Their discovery was published by the American Astronomical Society.
According to Richard Binzel, an astronomer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), these short-lived “mini-moons” are likely more common than previously thought. However, they often go unnoticed due to their small size and the difficulty of detecting them.
“This happens with some frequency, but we rarely see them because they’re very small and very hard to detect,” Binzel explained. “Only recently has our survey capability reached the point of spotting them routinely.”
Although 2024 PT5 will not be visible to the naked eye or through amateur telescopes, it can be observed using larger, research-grade instruments. “It’s a fascinating event, but unfortunately not something the general public will be able to witness directly,” Carlos de la Fuente Marcos said in an email.
Scientists are still unsure of the asteroid’s origins. Binzel noted that it could be a fragment of an asteroid or potentially “a chunk of the moon that got blasted out” during a past impact.
The mini-moon will circle the Earth for around 57 days but won’t complete a full orbit before breaking free from the planet’s gravitational pull. On November 25, it will resume its cosmic trajectory, but astronomers expect it to pass by Earth again in 2055.
This rare occurrence adds to the growing list of space rocks that have briefly orbited our planet, with the last known mini-moon detected in 2020.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
