Earth’s About to Get a Second Moon!
Earth’s solitary moon is getting a new friend
Post Author - Peter Bashaw
Beginning today, Earth will have two moons in its orbit: 2024 PT5, a small asteroid that will circle our planet for two months, through November 25. This is termed a mini-moon event, when Near-Earth Objects’ horseshoe paths intersect with our planet. This NEO was discovered just recently on August 7 at close range and moving at a relatively low velocity. It is a part of the Arjunas asteroid cluster, a group of NEOs that are synched to the Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
This is only the latest mini-moon event yet observed, following 2006 RH120 from 2006 to 2007, 2020 CD3 from 2018 to 2020, and 2022 NX1 in 1981 and 2022. Unfortunately for stargazers, these asteroids are quite small and are invisible to the naked eye. In the case of 2024 PT5, the NEO measures just 36 feet across and so won’t be lighting up the night sky like our original moon. After it completes its time with Earth, 2024 PT5 will continue its wide horseshoe path near our planet, perhaps synching up with Earth again sometime in the future.
You may not be able to see our new moon, but you get a piece of the old one! Check out our Lunar Meteorite collection!
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