Earth Will Get a Second Moon, But Only Briefly
Alexis Thornton
3 months agoOur Moon has existed for more than four billion years. There are several theories about how the Moon was formed. According to NASA, most scientists agree that at some point during the formation of Earth, approximately 4.5 billion years ago, a massive object or several objects crashed into the planet, causing an enormous explosion and sending vaporized and molten debris hurling into space to create the Moon.
The early solar system was chaotic. After the Sun was formed, debris combined into a disk that ranged in size from tiny particles to minor planets. Gravity pulled the objects together, causing violent crashes that caused the objects to form into the moons, asteroids, planets, stars, comets, dwarf planets, and meteoroids that we're familiar with today.
The Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s changed theories about how the Moon was formed. Samples of the Moon's rocks proved that it formed about 60 million years following the solar system's creation. The samples also proved that the Moon was molten during its formation and covered in magma for millions of years, proving its formation was the result of a tremendous impact.
Asteroid 2024 PT5 and Other Near Earth Objects
Asteroid 2024 PT5 is an asteroid in the Arjuna asteroid belt, which is a secondary asteroid belt comprised of space rocks with an orbit very similar to Earth. The asteroid belt is 93 million miles from the Sun. The Sun at the center of our solar system contains more than 99 percent of its mass. One million planets the size of Earth could fit inside the Sun. Objects in the Arjuna asteroid belt are among the near-Earth objects, or NEOs, comprising comets and asteroids. They come close to Earth at about 2.8 million miles, at low relative velocity, and undergo mini-moon events that may last for hours, days, or months. An excellent example of a NEO is the 2022 NX, which became an Earth mini-moon in 1981 and 2022. The American Astronomical Society published a study indicating that 2024 PT5 will be an Earth mini-moon for 57 days between September 29th and November 25th, 2024.
When an asteroid or comet becomes an NEO, its geocentric energy turns negative, and it becomes a temporary moon of our Earth. The orbit of Earth will temporarily capture Asteroid 2024 PT5. However, the small asteroid, a mere 33 feet across, won't follow a complete orbit around Earth and is only visiting our planet. The asteroid will follow a typical NEO horseshoe-shaped path. According to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, after the asteroid's brief visit to Earth's orbit, it won't return to our celestial neighborhood until 2055.
Due to the asteroid 2024PT5's small size, most people won't be able to observe it with the typical backyard telescope or binoculars. However, large telescopes like Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California, Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Arizona, McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains in West Texas, and Mauna Kea Observatories in Hawaii should likely be able to track it. Astrophotographers who capture images of the night sky for business or scientific research may be able to photograph the asteroid in its horseshoe orbit.