So long.
Once in a Blue Moon
The Earth has parted ways with a tiny “mini moon” that had orbited our planet for two months — at least until it swings back around for another visit two months from now.
The 33-foot space rock, dubbed 2024 PT5, was first spotted by astronomers in August. It only came by for a brief visit, circling the Earth for much of the late summer in a horseshoe-shaped path before the effects of the Earth’s gravitational field gave way to the much stronger forces from the Sun, as the Associated Press reports.
Intriguingly, scientists believe it’s possible that 2024 PT5 was once part of the Moon itself but was chipped off by a different asteroid that hit it millions of years ago.
The near-Earth object never posed a threat to Earth, orbiting the planet at a safe distance. And it was more than likely one of countless objects just like it hanging out in our close vicinity.
In other words, it’s a reminder that “there’s a pretty busy highway around the Earth,” as Harvard asteroid dynamics researcher Federica Spoto told the New York Times in September.
Hello Goodbye
Scientists believe the so-called “mini moon” was once part of the Arjuna asteroid belt, a group of asteroids following a similar orbit to the Earth.
Despite its moniker, 2024 PT5 never completed its full orbit around the Earth.
“You may say that if a true satellite is like a customer buying goods inside a store, objects like 2024 PT5 are window shoppers,” Universidad Complutense de Madrid professor Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, lead author of an article on the asteroid published in the journal Research Notes of the AAS, told Space.com in September.
“So far, science has only identified two objects subjected to long captures, 2006 RH120 and 2020 CD3,” he added, referring to objects that become “temporarily bound to Earth.”
2024 PT5 never came close enough to be visible to amateur telescopes or binoculars. However, NASA is preparing to closely follow its upcoming and equally brief visit in January using a radar antenna, according to the AP.
After that, the space rock won’t be coming by to say hello for another 30 years.
More on the asteroid: Earth Gaining a Temporary New Moon, Scientists Say