Earth is set to gain a temporary “mini-moon” in just a few days, as asteroid 2024 PT5, roughly the size of two SUVs, makes a close approach to our planet. This Near-Earth object (NEO) will enter a horseshoe orbit around Earth on September 29 before departing on November 25.
Asteroid 2024 PT5 typically orbits the Sun on a path slightly wider than Earth’s. However, its low velocity and close proximity to our planet will allow it to be temporarily captured. “Earth can regularly capture asteroids from the NEO population and pull them into orbit, making them mini-moons,” stated the team behind a recent paper published in the Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society.
The upcoming mini-moon will not complete a full revolution around Earth; it is classified as a “temporarily captured flyby.” It will not return for another 30 years, although some objects have been known to complete orbits. A notable example is asteroid 2006 RH120, which was gravitationally bound to Earth from July 2006 to July 2007.
The 33-foot-long asteroid was discovered on August 7 by one of the four observatories that comprise NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), with observations made at the ATLAS Sutherland station in South Africa. Operated by the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy, ATLAS is the first survey capable of scanning the entire dark sky for NEOs every 24 hours.
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NASA scientists have confirmed that 2024 PT5 is a natural object and not debris from a rocket. Its trajectory closely resembles that of another confirmed mini-moon, 2022 NX1, which visited Earth in 1981 and 2022, with a possible return in 2051.After its 57-day visit as a mini-moon, 2024 PT5 will revert to its Apollo asteroid classification, characterised by a semi-major axis larger than Earth’s.
Following its temporary capture, the asteroid will leave Earth’s vicinity and will not return until 2055.
