Earth is set to bid farewell to a “mini moon” asteroid that has been orbiting the planet for the past two months, with a return visit planned for 2055.
Earth is preparing to part ways with an asteroid that has been accompanying it as a “mini moon” for the last two months. This harmless space rock is expected to drift away on Monday, as it succumbs to the stronger gravitational pull of the sun.
However, the asteroid will make a brief return visit in January, during which NASA plans to utilize a radar antenna to observe the 33-foot object, designated 2024 PT5. This observation aims to enhance scientists’ understanding of the asteroid, which may be a fragment that was ejected from the moon by an impacting asteroid that created a crater.
While NASA clarifies that 2024 PT5 is not technically a moon—having never been fully captured by Earth’s gravity—it is nonetheless considered “an interesting object” worthy of scientific study. The asteroid was identified by astrophysicist brothers Raul and Carlos de la Fuente Marcos from Complutense University of Madrid, who have collaborated with telescopes in the Canary Islands to conduct hundreds of observations of the object.
Currently, the asteroid is located more than 2 million miles away from Earth, making it too small and faint to be seen without a powerful telescope. In January, it will pass within approximately 1.1 million miles of Earth, maintaining a safe distance before continuing its journey deeper into the solar system. The asteroid is not expected to return until 2055, when it will be nearly five times farther away than the moon.
First detected in August, 2024 PT5 began its semi-orbit around Earth in late September after coming under the influence of Earth’s gravity, following a horseshoe-shaped path. By the time it returns next year, it will be traveling at more than double its speed from September, making it unlikely to linger, according to Raul de la Fuente Marcos.
NASA is set to track the asteroid for over a week in January using the Goldstone solar system radar antenna located in California’s Mojave Desert, which is part of the Deep Space Network. Current data indicates that during its anticipated visit in 2055, the sun-orbiting asteroid will once again make a temporary and partial loop around Earth.
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