Earth’s moon is soon going to get a ‘small companion’. This ‘mini moon’ is coming to orbit the Earth temporarily. In fact, under a rare event, a small asteroid will get trapped in Earth’s gravity and orbit our planet from September 29 to November 25. The name of this asteroid is 2024 PT5. It was seen on August 7 through NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).
Size and timing of the asteroid
2024 PT5 is not very large in size, its diameter is only 10 meters (33 feet). This asteroid will remain around the Earth for 53 days, but during this time it will not be able to make a complete revolution. Instead, it will rotate in the shape of a ‘horseshoe’ and then go out of the Earth’s gravitational force.
Earth and asteroid connection
According to a report published in Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society (RNAAS), the Earth often pulls such asteroids into its gravitational force. Some asteroids make one or more revolutions around the Earth, while some leave the Earth’s orbit halfway. This report has been written by Carlos de la Fuente Marcos and Raul de la Fuente Marcos.
This has happened before as well
In 2006 also, an asteroid got trapped in the gravitational force of the Earth and kept revolving around the Earth for a year from July 2006 to July 2007. Apart from this, something similar was seen in 2022 as well. Actually, asteroid 2022 NX1 had an incomplete orbit around the Earth in 1981 and 2022 and now it is likely to return again in 2051. Similarly, now an asteroid named 2024 PT5 is going to orbit.
Natural Object 2024 PT5
Although sometimes the Earth also pulls space debris into its orbit, according to the report, 2024 PT5 is a natural object. Its motion resembles that of 2022 NX1, which was identified as a natural object. Its orbital properties also resemble those of asteroids that come from the Arjuna asteroid belt. The 2024 PT5 asteroid may not be able to make a full orbit around the Earth, but it is an exciting event in the field of space science. This will help astronomers understand the effect of the Earth’s gravitational field and the motion of asteroids.
What are orbital properties?
Orbital properties refer to the characteristics of an object as it moves along its orbit. This refers to how an object (such as a planet, moon, asteroid or satellite) moves around a larger body, such as the Earth or the Sun, determining its speed, direction, distance and time. An object’s orbit may be circular or elliptical. This indicates the type of path the object is following.