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'Mini Moon' departing today to revisit Earth in January 2025

The ‘Mini Moon’ - which is accompanying Earth since September and set to depart today i.e. Nov 25, 2024, is set to revisit Earth January next year

Monday November 25, 2024 5:37 PM, ummid.com News Network

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The ‘Mini Moon’ - which is accompanying Earth since September and set to depart today i.e. Nov 25, 2024, is set to revisit Earth January next year.

2024 PT5 Moon

The mini moon is actually 2024 PT5, an asteroid about the size of a school bus at 33 feet (10 meters).

It came close to Earth on September 29, 2024.

When the "Mini Moon" first whizzed by Earth on Sept 29 this year, it temporarily trapped by our planet’s gravity and started orbiting the globe.

The 33-foot asteroid, designated 2024 PT5, has been accompanying Earth for the past two months and is now set to break free on Monday Nov 25, 2024, succumbing to the stronger gravitational pull of the sun.

2024 PT5 next visit to Earth

2024 PT5 will return for a brief visit in January 2025, allowing scientists to gather more insights, according to KSL.

When the 'New Moon' returns in January 2025, it will pass as close as 1.1 million miles of Earth, maintaining a safe distance before it zooms farther into the solar system while orbiting the sun, not to return until 2055.

The space rock - 2024 PT5, was first spotted in August by astronomers at Complutense University of Madrid using a powerful telescope located in Sutherland, South Africa.

"By the time it returns next year, it will be moving too fast — more than double its speed from September, to hang around," said Raul de la Fuente Marcos.

NASA will track the asteroid for more than a week in January using the Goldstone solar system radar antenna in California's Mojave Desert, part of the Deep Space Network.

Current data suggest that during its 2055 visit, the sun-circling asteroid will once again make a temporary and partial lap around Earth.

'Temporary Moons'

These mini moons, don’t stick around for long — they might hang out for a few weeks or months, or two months as in case of 2024 PT5, before breaking free and continuing their journey around the sun.

Scientists find mini-moons really interesting because they give us a chance to study near-Earth objects up close and learn more about how our solar system works, according to Earth.com.

2024 PT5 is part of the Arjuna asteroid belt — a group of space rocks that follow orbits similar to Earth’s, about 93 million miles from the sun.

The PT5 asteroid, also known as 2024 PT5 is part of the Arjuna asteroid belt, a group of asteroids 93 million miles away from our planet with an Earth-like orbit, Earth.com said.

Planets with more than one Moon

Our Earth has only one Moon and there is a scientific explanation for the same. But apart from Earth there are planets that have more than one Moon.

Moons are either gravitationally captured if they are within the planet’s Hill sphere radius, or they’re formed along with a solar system.

Small planets like Mercury and Venus have a small Hill sphere radius, which is why they cannot experience a large gravitational pull. Any potential moons likely get pulled by the sun.

Planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune have larger Hill sphere radii and are farther from the sun, making it easy for them to attract and keep more moons in their orbit.

According to a recent study, Saturn has a total of 145 moons – a maximum by any planet in our solar system.

In terms of number of moons, Jupiter is second with 95 Moons.

Also, 121 of the 145 moons that Saturn has are ‘irregular moons.’

Irregular moons are characterised by their large, elliptical, and inclined orbits compared to regular moons. They tend to clump together into orbital groups based on the tilt of their orbits.

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