Earth Is Getting Another Moon This September, But Only for Two Months

• The earth is getting a second “mini-moon” later this month, researchers confirmed
• Asteroid 2024 PT5 will stick around from Sept. 29 to Nov. 25, 2024, but it won’t be visible to the human eye, per astronomers
• “The object that is going to pay us a visit belongs to the Arjuna asteroid belt, a secondary asteroid belt made of space rocks that follow orbits very similar to that of Earth at an average distance to the sun of about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers),” researcher Carlos de la Fuente Marcos told Space.com

The Earth is getting a second moon later this month, but it won’t be sticking around for long.

Between Sept. 29 and Nov. 25 2024, an asteroid from the Near-Earth object (NEO) population will be briefly pulled into orbit by the planet, resulting in what astronomers call a “mini-moon,” per Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society findings published by Carlos and Raúl de la Fuente Marcos.

The asteroid — named 2024 PT5 — is following a path resembling previous similar events, the research stated. It will return to the asteroid belt orbiting the sun after its brief stint as the moon’s companion.

The research explained that, “NEOs that follow horseshoe paths, and approach our planet at close range and low relative velocity, may undergo mini-moon events in which their geocentric energy becomes negative for hours, days or months, but without completing one revolution around Earth while bound.” 

These are known as “temporarily captured flybys,” according to the research, while “temporarily captured orbiters complete one or more” revolution around the earth.

“An example of NEO experiencing such a temporarily captured flyby is 2022 NX1, which was a short-lived mini-moon in 1981 and 2022,” it added. Other examples include the 2020 CD3 “mini-moon.”

The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), which is a NASA-funded program, came across the asteroid using a monitoring system in South Africa in August, KABC-TV reported. The outlet stated the “mini-moon” was much smaller than the actual moon, measuring about 10 meters in length.

Lead researcher and Universidad Complutense de Madrid professor, Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, told Space.com, “The object that is going to pay us a visit belongs to the Arjuna asteroid belt, a secondary asteroid belt made of space rocks that follow orbits very similar to that of Earth at an average distance to the sun of about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers).”

“Objects in the Arjuna asteroid belt are part of the near-Earth object population of asteroids and comets,” de la Fuente Marcos added.

The researcher told the outlet that some of these objects can “approach Earth at a close range of around 2.8 million miles (4.5 million km) and at low velocities of around 2,200 miles per hour (3,540 km/h),” which is what is needed for a NEO to become a “mini-moon,” according to the publication.

De la Fuente Marcos also said that, “Under these conditions, the geocentric energy of the object may grow negative, and the object may become a temporary moon of Earth. This particular object will undergo this process starting next week and for about two months. It will not follow a full orbit around Earth,” per the outlet.

“You may say that if a true satellite is like a customer buying goods inside a store, objects like 2024 PT5 are window shoppers,” he added.

The researcher explained how, though it is rare, there have been instances where the “mini-moons” stick around for longer, sometimes lasting over a year, per Space.com.

“Under these conditions, the geocentric energy can become negative, and the object becomes temporarily bound to Earth,” de la Fuente Marcos told the outlet, going on to explain the instances of the “temporarily captured orbiters” that have been discovered by scientists to date.

“So far, science has only identified two objects subjected to long captures, 2006 RH120 and 2020 CD3. There are three examples published of short captures: 1991 VG, 2022 NX1, and 2024 PT5. But there are several others unpublished.”

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The researcher also said that most people, unfortunately, won’t be able to view the “mini-moon” later this month.

“The object is too small and dim for typical amateur telescopes and binoculars. However, the object is well within the brightness range of typical telescopes used by professional astronomers,” de la Fuente Marcos told Space.com. 

“A telescope with a diameter of at least 30 inches plus a CCD or CMOS detector are needed to observe this object, a 30 inches telescope and a human eye behind it will not be enough,” he said.

The American Astronomical Society research also said that “after completing the mini-moon episode,” 2024 PT5 will leave “the neighborhood of Earth,” in January before “its next return in 2055.”