Earth now officially has two moons after gravity grabbed an asteroid. Our planet captured asteroid 2024 PT5 on Sunday, September 29, which has now become our mini-moon. However, did you know that this isn’t the first time Earth has had a mini-moon?
The asteroid was discovered on August 7 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). Researchers Carlos and Raúl de la Fuente Marcos of Spain’s Universidad Complutense de Madrid were the first to discover this and published their findings in Research Notes of the AAS.
These space rocks continue to orbit the Sun just like other asteroids. But when they get close to Earth, sometimes the planet’s gravity pulls them in. This is certainly a rare occurrence, however, not the first.
Other minor moons
In their paper, the two astronomers claim that our planet has had a small moon before. The first such recorded event took place in 1981. 2022 A cosmic body called NX1 is temporarily captured by Earth’s gravity. The mini moon returns in 2022. Both times it was short lived. It will return to Earth in 2051.
Another short-lived mini-moon, according to the authors, was the 1991 V.G. It was briefly captured during a flyby in February 1992. Both of the above never completed a full revolution of the earth
However, in 2006, we had a short moon that lasted an entire year. Asteroid 2006 RH120 remained gravitationally bound to Earth until July 2007 after being captured in July 2006.
Another asteroid that has stayed with us for years is 2020 CD3. It remained in orbit for several years and escaped in early May 2020.
Asteroid 2024 PT5
Similar to our latest Mini Moon 2022 NX1. It won’t complete a full orbit of Earth and will only be with us for a few days before flying away on November 25. 2024 PT5 Arjuna resides in the asteroid belt. Space rocks living in this region follow Earth’s orbit, about 93 million miles from the Sun.
Some objects from the Arjuna asteroid belt will approach Earth as close as 2.8 million miles.
The mini moon is too small and faint to be seen. Amateur binoculars and telescopes may not be good enough to see it. Our moon is about 2,159 miles in diameter, while the newcomer is believed to be just 37 feet across.
