New Earth Update: Temporary Mini-Moon

By Matthew Rinaldi, 2028

Published 10/2/2024

This is a close up of the 2024 PT5 asteroid that will be considered Earth’s mini-moon for a brief period of time! Photo courtesy of Mint.

In the next couple of months, Earth will be getting a new companion: a mini-moon! Mark your calendars, because it won’t be here for long! 

More formally known as the asteroid 2024 PT5, this so-called “mini-moon” will be close enough to orbit the Earth as a secondary moon. It entered the Earth’s orbit on September 29 and will remain there roughly until early November. 

Although it may be tempting to whip out your dusty telescope to witness this seemingly once-in-a-lifetime phenomena, we might have to leave it to the scientists to take the cool pictures for this one; this new mini-moon is far too small and nonluminous to view without the proper equipment. We still have good reasons to be excited, though. The presence of this new mini-moon has helped scientists conclude that more mini-moons are expected to pay visits in future decades, so you have time to save up for a more advanced telescope!

2024 PT5 was first spotted from Africa in early August 2024, when it was much farther than it is now (as of the publication of this article). It was just in reach of Earth’s gravitational pull, allowing it to enter our orbit as a temporary mini-moon. This asteroid originates from Arjuna, an asteroid belt that is tens of millions of miles away from the Earth. Asteroids like 2024 PT5 are able to fall into Earth’s gravitational pull because their asteroid belt of origin has a similar orbital pattern around the Sun as the Earth’s.

A mini-moon’s stay in Earth’s orbit can range from a couple of days to years or even a couple of decades, depending on how close they are within Earth’s gravitational pull. 2024 PT5 is going to be a short-time member of Earth’s orbit, and it is expected to depart around two months after its entrance into orbit. Although it may be too difficult to see using your own equipment, the Internet will most definitely be buzzing with discussion over this extremely rare event. Make sure you are keeping up! This temporary mini-moon will be returning home in the blink of an eye.