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On Sunday ( Sept. 29 ) , Earth captured a " second moon " that will accompany our major planet on its journeying around the sun for the next two months .
The clingy infinite John Rock is actually a nigh - Earthasteroidnamed 2024 PT5 , which measures an estimated 33 pes ( 10 meters ) astray , or about the length of a schooling bus . snag by Earth ’s gravity during an remarkably close approach , this " minimoon " is predicted to orbit our major planet for just 57 days ; on Nov. 25 , the asteroid will violate free of Earth ’s influence and re-start its unconstipated orbit of the sunlight without a chaperone , astronomer wrote in the journalResearch Notes of the AAS .
An illustration of a small asteroid orbiting the Earth. Our planet just acquired a new “minimoon” called 2024 PT5
While the idea of a " second moon " may vocalise phantasmagorical and exciting , 2024 PT5 will be a mostly invisible travel companion . assess at least 300,000 times smaller than our permanentmoon , the new minimoon is far too tiny to be visible to the naked heart — and commercialbackyard telescopesandstargazing binocularswon’t avail much , either .
" The target is too little and slow for distinctive amateur scope and binoculars , " study authorCarlos de la Fuente Marcos , a professor at Universidad Complutense de Madrid , told Live Science ’s babe siteSpace.comin an consultation . " However , the objective is well within the light range of distinctive telescopes used by professional astronomers . "
colligate : How many moons does Earth have ?
That think of the only way to see Earth ’s raw moonlet will be to wait for researcher at a professional observation tower to unloosen paradigm of it . ( However , in the meantime , you could look for the shining comet that will be visible in the morning sky until Wednesday , Oct. 2 . Here ’s everything you ask to know tospot Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan - ATLAS . )
— ' Stepping stone to Mars ' : Minimoons may help us become an interplanetary species , say MIT astrophysicist Richard Binzel
— NASA flyby of " Dinky " asteroid let on hidden moon
— A clump of the lunation appear to be orbiting near Earth , novel cogitation hint
According to the new subject field , 2024 PT5 belike originated from the Arjuna asteroid belt , a lower-ranking asteroid belt that ordinate closely with Earth ’s orbit . Given its law of proximity to our satellite , the cosy asteroid is expect to make another close flyby of Earth in January 2025 , and then another in 2055 .
This bus - size of it asteroid is n’t Earth ’s first minimoon . Our planet has likely captured millions of temporary moonshine over its life , but the first to be observed by humans was the more or less 20 - metrical foot - wide ( 6 m ) asteroid 2006 RH120 , which footle in Earth ’s orbit for 18 month from 2006 to 2007 . Not long after , thespace rock 2020 CD3spent three age orbiting the planet before drifting off in 2020 . give the comparatively easy head trip to a minimoon from Earth , some researchers have proposed using these passing artificial satellite as " stepping stones " for future missions to mine asteroids or search deep into oursolar system .
