The Earth turns 2 month This year, Earth will be orbiting the Sun for about two months as a small asteroid begins to orbit the planet. The asteroid was discovered in August and will become a mini-satellite that will orbit Earth in a horseshoe shape from September 29 to November 25.
Researchers from the NASA-funded Asteroid Monitoring System, known as the Asteroid Earth Impact Final Warning System, discovered the asteroid using instruments in Sutherland, South Africa, and named it 2024 PT5.
Scientists from the Complutense University of Madrid tracked the asteroid’s orbit for 21 days to determine its future course. According to a study published in the AAs Research Notes, 2024 PT5 comes from the Arjuna asteroid belt, which orbits the Sun.
However, Earth’s gravity pulls 2024 PT5 towards Earth, Our MoonIt will now orbit Earth for just 56.6 days.
Other non-Earth objects (NEOs) have entered Earth’s orbit before, but not all of them completed a full revolution around the Earth, and some did complete a full revolution, becoming so-called mini-moons.
One asteroid, called 2020 CD3, passed close to Earth for several years before leaving its orbit in 2020. Another, called 2022 NX1, became a mini-satellite for Earth in 1981 and 2022, before returning to Earth again in 2051.
2024 PT5, larger than some of the other small satellites, is also scheduled to return to Earth’s orbit in 2055.
The Earth’s gravity pulls the asteroid into its orbit, and since the asteroid has negative geocentric energy, it cannot escape the Earth’s gravity. The asteroid orbits the Earth in a horseshoe shape, then reverts to heliocentric energy and revolves around the Sun again, just like other planets and NEOs in the galaxy.
After leaving orbit, it will remain close to Earth for a few months, reaching its closest approach on January 9, 2025. It will then leave Earth’s vicinity shortly thereafter, before re-entering orbit around Earth again in about 30 years.
Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, the study’s lead author, told Space.com that the mini-moon is too small to be seen with amateur telescopes or binoculars, but professional astronomers with more powerful tools could spot it.
CBS News has reached out to Marcos for more information and is awaiting a response.
more