Mini Moon Marvel

WATCH | A mini moon is headed for earth’s orbit.
Named “2024 PT5,” the space rock has been travelling along its normal path around the sun but will be temporarily pulled into Earth’s gravitational orbit later this month. | Video Credit: Presented by Kavya Pradeep; Camera and editing by Samson Ronald K.; Supervising producer: Jinoy Jose P.

The mini moon is temporary and is, reportedly, quite rare as in most cases, asteroids either miss Earth or burn upon entering the atmosphere.

Published : Sep 23, 2024 13:25 IST - 1 MIN READ

Asteroid dynamic researchers Carlos de la Fuente Marcos and Raúl de la Fuente Marcos from Universidad Complutense de Madrid Ciudad Universitaria found that an asteroid called 2024 PT5 will make an orbit around the earth from September 29, 2024 to November 25, 2024. Their research paper, published in the journal Research Notes of the AAS, claims that the asteroid “undergoes mini-moon events in which their geocentric energy becomes negative for hours, days or months, but without completing one revolution around Earth while bound”. Reports say that this temporary moon is quite rare as in most cases, asteroids either miss Earth or burn upon entering the planet’s atmosphere.

Watch the full video to know more.

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