A stunning photograph from the Two-Meter Twin Telescope in Spain shows a transient mini-moon that was entangled by Earth’s gravity for over two months before returning to the solar system. The gravitational pull of our planet attracted the near-Earth asteroid (NEO) 2024 PT5. Scientists examining this “second moon,” such as Carlos de la Fuente Marcos of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, knew from the beginning of its occupation that it would be a “temporary capture” that would only last a few weeks.
Officially, the mini-moon is called asteroid 2024 PT5. Initially connecting with Earth on September 29, 2024, the mini-moon departed our planet’s orbit at 10:43 A.M. EST (1543 GMT) on Monday, November 25, failing to stay long enough to observe Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 28.
Marcos and his associates have been examining it using the Two-meter Twin Telescope (TTT), run by the Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain-based Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). As a result, the team was able to learn several things about the asteroid, such as the possibility that it is a fragment of the moon that was pierced by an asteroid impact. The departure of 2024 PT5 and the end of its tenure as Earth’s second moon did not cause the astronomers to cry too much, but they nevertheless managed to image it as it passed.
“The ‘see-you-soon’ picture of 2024 PT5 was acquired on Monday by Dr. Miquel Serra-Ricart, a member of our collaboration,” Marcos told Space.com via email. “The observation came from the TTT.”
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But don’t let this leave make you unhappy. The asteroid, which is 37 feet wide (11.2 meters), or six stacked Arnold Schwarzeneggers, will return like Arnie from “The Terminator.” Will 2024 PT5 get another opportunity to orbit the Earth as a second moon?
This asteroid is often found in the Arjuna asteroid belt, a secondary asteroid belt made up of rocks that orbit the sun in orbits that are very similar to Earth’s, Marcos told Space.com. The average distance between these Arjuna asteroids and the central star of the solar system is around 93 million miles (150 million km).
The next few approaches of 2024 PT5 can be analyzed using the NASA JPL small body lookup database to at least tentatively determine which will fit the requirements for its capture.
The database, which includes information on the orbits of more than 3.3 million known asteroids and comets, indicates that 2024 PT5 will next approach Earth on January 9, 2025. At this point, the asteroid will be traveling at around 2,300 mph (3,700 kph) and will approach Earth within 1.1 million miles (1.8 million km).
This suggests that the asteroid may be moving a bit too quickly to be gravitationally captured by Earth during this encounter, which will also see it approach the moon closely a few days later.
Astronomers will then have to wait until 2024 PT5 returns, since its next near approach is scheduled for November 8, 2055.
At that point, the asteroid will approach Earth more slowly—just 1,498 miles per hour—but it will only go within 3.3 million miles. This implies that the 2055 approach could be just a bit too broad for PT5 to be captured by Earth as a mini-moon in 2024.
