Earth gains a second ‘mini-moon’, but not forever

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — Earth’s gravitational pull is reaching out and grabbing a second ‘mini-moon’ for the next few months.

A tiny asteroid named 2024 PT5 will start orbiting the earth on Sept. 29, 2024. According to Space.com , this newest moon will only stick around for about two months. The Universidad Complutense de Madrid has been monitoring the asteroid and has found that the tiny asteroid comes from the Arjuna asteroid belt.

Don’t go grabbing your binoculars or telescopes. This ‘new mini-moon’ won’t be able to be seen with commercial products.

It pales in comparison to the moon we see frequently in the night sky. The moon has been orbiting the earth for nearly 4.5 billion years according to NASA . The orbit that gives this ‘new mini-moon’ its moon status is the brief horseshoe shape orbit it is set to complete around the earth.

This isn’t likely the first mini-moon to orbit the earth, but NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System is responsible for spotting this year’s tiny moon. This newest moon is expected to exit earth’s orbit in late November of 2024.

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