Astronomers say the newly discovered asteroid, dubbed 2024 PT5, will be temporarily trapped by Earth's gravity, allowing it to orbit the Earth from September 29 to November 25. After that, the space rock will return to its heliocentric orbit, that is, its orbit around the Sun.
Details about the temporary mini-moon and its horseshoe-shaped orbit were published in the American Astronomical Society's Research Notes this month.
Illustration of the scene as this mini-moon orbits the Earth: X
Astronomers first detected the asteroid on August 7 using the South African observatory that is part of the NASA-funded Asteroid Earth Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).
Asteroid 2024 PT5, which is about 11 meters in diameter, is not at risk of colliding with Earth in the next few decades, said study lead author Carlos de la Fuente Marcos of the Complutense University of Madrid. The space rock will orbit about 4.2 million kilometers away, or about 10 times the distance between Earth and the Moon.
These short-lived asteroids pass by Earth as mini-moons that last for days, weeks or months, De la Fuente Marcos said. Short mini-moons can happen multiple times a decade, but long mini-moons are rare and only happen once every 10 or 20 years.
Asteroids don't easily become mini-moons because they have to travel at the right speed and direction to be captured by Earth's gravity. "To become a mini-moon, an incoming object has to approach Earth slowly and at close range," said De la Fuente Marcos.
The asteroids that become mini-moons will fly within 4.5 million kilometers of Earth at speeds of less than 3,600 kilometers per hour, he added.
Asteroid 2024 PT5 originates from the Arjuna asteroid belt, which consists of small asteroids that orbit the Sun similar to Earth's orbit.
De la Fuente Marcos and his colleagues plan to observe 2024 PT5 to gather more data and details using the Gran Telescopio Canarias and Two-Meter Twin Telescope observatories, both located in Spain’s Canary Islands. But he said the asteroid will be too small and dim to be seen with amateur telescopes or binoculars. It will not produce any observable effects on Earth.
After 56.6 days, the Sun's gravity will return asteroid 2024 PT5 to its normal orbit.
But according to the study, the asteroid is expected to fly by Earth at a distance of 1.7 million kilometers on January 9, 2025, before "leaving Earth's vicinity shortly thereafter, until its next return in 2055."
When asteroid 2024 PT5 returns, astronomers predict it will become Earth's mini-moon for a few days in November 2055 and again for a few weeks in early 2084.
Ngoc Anh (according to CNN)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/trai-dat-sap-bat-duoc-mot-mat-trang-khac-post313316.html
Comment (0)