According to a new study published in the journal Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, the Earth’s gravitational field will temporarily capture a small asteroid, called 2024 PT5, in late September.
- The asteroid will stay for two months before flying off into space. The asteroid was discovered with the help of the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).
- While gaining a “mini-moon” is not new for Earth, the phenomenon is rare — in most cases, asteroids either miss the planet or burn upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere.
- Mini-moons are asteroids that fail to escape Earth’s gravity and end up orbiting the planet for some time.
- They are usually very small and hard to detect — only four mini-moons of Earth have ever been discovered, and none are still orbiting Earth, according to a report by The Planetary Society.
