Jamie Carter is an award-winning reporter and experienced stargazer who covers the night sky, astro-tourism, the northern lights and space exploration. He received the 2023 Popular Media Award from the American Astronomical Society's Solar Physics Division and is the author of A Stargazing Program for Beginners. Writing for Forbes.
Say hello to 2024 PT5 , Earth’s newest mini-moon. Expected to go into orbit of Earth for a couple of months from Sept. 29, 2024 PT5 is a near-Earth asteroid that’s about to be captured by our planet for a short time before being released back into the solar system to orbit the sun. 2024 PT5 is a near-Earth asteroid and is 11 meters in diameter — about the same as two giraffes.
Earth regularly captures NEOs and pulls them into orbit, making them mini-moons, according to the researchers, which describe the mini-moon as a “temporarily captured flyby.”Can we see the mini-moon? No. At magnitude 22, it's way too faint to see with the naked eye, or even powerful backyard telescopes. Only astronomers using large professional 30-inch telescopes will be able to see it.
It was discovered on Aug. 7 by South Africa's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System telescope, which also found the imminentwhich moves in sync with Earth in a 1-to-1 resonance, so appears to orbit Earth despite actually orbiting the sun. Also called 2016 HO3, Kamo’oalewa — meaning “oscillating celestial object” in Hawaiian — is about 130 to 330 feet across, which is about the same size as the Statue of Liberty. It was discovered in 2016.Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas and facts in a safe space.
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Earth's new 'mini-moon' will orbit our planet for the next 2 monthsBen Turner is a U.K. based staff writer at Live Science. He covers physics and astronomy, among other topics like tech and climate change. He graduated from University College London with a degree in particle physics before training as a journalist.
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Earth Will Have a Tiny New Mini-Moon for a Few MonthsSpace and astronomy news
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What you need to know about Earth's new, temporary mini-moonDubbed the 2024 PT5, the 'mini-moon' will orbit Earth for nearly two months. It comes in a season of lunar phenomena.
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Earth Welcomes a New 'Mini-Moon' Later This MonthThe Best in Science News and Amazing Breakthroughs
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New mini-moon to orbit Earth but won’t stay in the neighborhood for longAstronomers say the newly discovered object 2024 PT will loop around Earth beginning in late September through most of November.
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NASA Proposes New Kind of Moon Shot: Literally Shooting the MoonMultiple bullets containing a tiny spectrometer could be shot into the lunar soil by an astronaut or rover, allowing analysis of a wide area all at once.
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