Earth is saying goodbye to its temporary friend, a mini-moon on steroids, known as 2024 PT5, which has been with us for the past two months. . Orbiting the Earth for several months. The steroid won’t cause anyone any harm, but it will succumb to the Sun’s powerful grip and will escape Earth’s gravity on Monday. But it’s not a permanent farewell – the space rock is expected to pass by in January 2024.
NASA claims – mini moon is part of our moon
NASA scientists are very interested in 2024 PT5, claiming that the mini-satellite may be fragments of the moon that were shattered by an impact from an old steroid. While this steroid has never fully orbited the Earth, and it’s not technically a moon, its horseshoe-shaped path around the planet makes it a fascinating subject of study. It was first observed in August 2024 and entered an orbit halfway around the Earth in late September.
Mini-moons will be studied
During this trip, NASA plans to use the Goldstone Solar System Radar in California’s Mojave Desert to closely observe the steroid. The purpose of these radars is to deepen scientists’ understanding of the origin, structure and trajectory of objects. By the time it returns in January, it will have passed within 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers) of Earth, maintaining a safe distance about five times that of the moon.
Brothers Raul and Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, astrophysicists at the Complutense University of Madrid, first discovered the asteroid’s “mini-moons”, which they had collected with telescopes in the Canary Islands Hundreds of observations.
Know how far the mini moon is
Currently, the asteroid is more than 2 million miles (3.5 million kilometers) away, making it invisible to all but the most powerful telescopes. However, during its journey in January, its speed will increase dramatically, making it impossible for Earth’s gravity to capture it again. This 2024 PT5 will continue to orbit the sun and is expected to return in 2055 to briefly encounter Earth again, possibly repeating its dance as a “mini-moon.” Currently, scientists are focusing their efforts on studying this interesting visitor>
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