19-Sep-2024
Earth To Get a ‘Mini Moon’
Geography
Why in the News?
Earth is about to gain a temporary second moon, as the small asteroid 2024 PT5 will be gravitationally captured by our planet this month. However, unlike our permanent lunar companion, this mini moon will only stick around for about two months starting from September 29 to November 25 before returning to its usual orbit within the Arjuna asteroid belt. The asteroid was discovered with the help of the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).
What is an Asteroid?
- Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun.
- Although asteroids orbit the Sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets.
What is a ‘Mini Moon’?
- Definition: A small asteroid temporarily captured by Earth's gravity, causing it to orbit the planet before eventually returning to its original orbit.
- Size: It is just a few meters to a few tens of meters in diameter.
- Duration: It remains in Earth's orbit for a few months to a few years before escaping back into space.
- Detection: it is often too small to be visible to the naked eye; usually detected by professional telescopes.
- NASA monitors around 28,000 asteroids through ATLAS, a system of four telescopes that scans the entire night sky every 24 hours.
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National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
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