New Minimoon to Arrive at Earth This Fall: NPR

Earth’s Moon will be with some people for a few months this fall.

Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

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Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Earth will host a new guest this fall.

No, it’s not an alien, it’s an asteroid.

The space rock, dubbed 2024 PT5, has been traveling on its normal path around the sun, but will be temporarily pulled into Earth’s gravitational orbit later this month.

The approximately 33-foot-long object was first spotted by researchers in South Africa, who wrote about it in the journal Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society This month.

Some scientists have described 2024 PT5 as a “minimoon.”

What is a small moon?

Simply put, a minimoon is a space body that is temporarily captured in the orbit of a planet, as opposed to regular moons, which are permanent fixtures.

Researchers say 2024 PT5 will travel around Earth in a “horseshoe” path for about two months, from September 29 to November 25.

But there is some disagreement among scientists about whether 2024 PT5 should be classified as a minimoon, because it will not complete a full orbit around Earth before the Sun’s gravity pulls it back into its normal orbit.

This is not the first time such a phenomenon has occurred. In 2020, astronomers identified another small moon, 2020 CD3, which It orbited the Earth for over a year..

This will also not be the 2024 PT5 spacecraft’s only visit, as scientists expect it to be captured by Earth’s gravity again in 2055.

Can we see it?

Unfortunately, 2024 PT5 will not be visible to the naked eye, and home telescopes will likely not be sufficient to see it.

“The object is too small and too faint for typical amateur telescopes and binoculars,” said Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, one of the authors of the article describing the asteroid. Space.com.

“However, this object is within the brightness range of typical telescopes used by professional astronomers,” Marcus said.

The asteroid was first spotted using a telescope from the NASA-funded Asteroid Impact Alert System.

Despite the program’s menacing name, scientists say there’s no cause for concern and stress that 2024 PT5 is not on a collision course with Earth.