Earth will have a new mini-moon in two months

Two asteroid dynamics researchers from the Complutense University of Madrid Ciudad Universitaria have discovered that a small asteroid will orbit Earth starting this month before heading off to other parts of the solar system.

In their article published in the journal AAS Research NotesCarlos de la Fuente Marcos and Raúl de la Fuente Marcos describe how Earth tends to regularly capture asteroids and present their calculations showing the trajectory of 2024 PT₅ as it approaches Earth.

Previous research has shown that many asteroids follow a partially or fully elliptical path around Earth before eventually being flung away. In 2006, for example, a small asteroid orbited Earth for about a year, and another did the same for several years before flying away again in 2020.

In the new study, the researchers focused on a small asteroid discovered last month as part of the Earth’s latest asteroid impact warning system. Previous research had shown that the asteroid was not on a collision course with Earth, and the researchers suspected that it might instead be bound by the planet’s gravity for some time.

The researchers noted that the asteroid was small, only 10 meters in diameter. By noting its current size, speed and trajectory, the two researchers were able to calculate its path over the next few months. They found that it would come close enough to Earth to be bound by its gravity, if only for a few months.

Their work shows that it will orbit the Earth once, every 53 days, starting later this month, and then leave again around mid-November.

By noting its trajectory, the researchers were also able to estimate its origins. They found that it likely came from the Arjuna asteroid belt, which is made up of many asteroids with orbits around the sun similar to Earth’s. They also note that asteroid 2024 PT is unlikely to₅ It is space debris because it has a similar path to another naturally occurring object.

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