Earth’s New ‘Mini-Moon’ to Orbit the Planet for the Next Two Months

A tiny asteroid will orbit around our planet for 53 days from the end of September.

Towards the month’s end, Earth will have a new addition in the form of a mini-moon, a small asteroid that orbits the planet and only for the year-end Scientists.

The asteroid dubbed as 2024 PT5 was observed for the first time on August 7 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). This structure will take one earth orbit to be precise from September 29 to November 25 and then it will leave the gravity trail of the earth.

However, this is a very poor prospect for an object that was only recently discovered and is only 57 days away from its closest approach, and is only 33 feet (10 meters) in diameter.

The event occurs when the Earth grabs a couple of extra moons for some time, in 1981 and 2022, the asteroid 2022 NX1 was temporary Earth’s companion. Details of this new mini-moon were disclosed by astronomers in the research notes of the AAS in its September edition.

“The Earth is known to intercept NEOs and bring some of them into orbit as mini-moons as stated by the researchers,” the authors added. “The newly discovered Apollo-class NEO, 2024 PT5, like 2022 NX1, will most likely be taken in soon as a future mini-moon. ”

NASA defines any object located within the distance of 120 million miles (190 million kilometers) from Earth as a ‘Near-Earth Object’ or NEO and anything big with in 4. More than 7 million miles (7. 5 million km) as astronomical objects that are “potentially hazardous. ” Citing ATLAS, an agency tracks around 28,000 asteroids using a network of four telescopes that survey the night sky in twenty-four-hour shifts.

NASA has also calculated as to where these NEOs will be in the future, and has ascertained that for the next hundred years or so, the Earth is not in any imminent danger of being hit by a catastrophic asteroid.

Specifically the research reveals that 2024 PT5 likely belongs to Arjuna asteroid belt, which comprises space rocks that move around the sun akin to the earth. Close encounter means the asteroid could orbit the Earth again later in January 2025 and in the year 2055.

Unfortunately, mini-moons are not the only space anomalies. The studies discussed here show that they may also hold precious minerals and water needed in the Asteroid Mining Industry and probable source of rocket fuel for further space exploration.

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