Washington, (TDI): Earth is going to get second moon that will remain in its orbit till November.
But unlike the earth’s moon the second one (also referred as mini-moon) will only be visible on professional telescope, BBC News has reported.
According to scientists, a small asteroid is going to be captured by Earth’s gravitational pull and temporarily become a “mini-moon”.
The asteroid will enter the Earth’s orbit probably on September 29, the report said.
But the second moon is going to be too small and dim to be visible on naked eyes and one would need a professional telescope for witnessing this strange and exciting phenomenon.
The asteroid was first spotted by NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on 7 August, the report added.
Scientists worked out its trajectory in a study and presented their findings.
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The asteroid, called 2024 PT5, hails from the Arjuna asteroid belt, which contains rocks that follow an orbit quite similar to that of Earth.
Studies reveal that if an asteroid is moving at a relatively slow speed of around 2,200mph (3,540km/h), Earth’s gravitational field can exert a strong influence, enough to trap it temporarily.
And now it is about to happen at this weekend, this small asteroid will spend about two months orbiting Earth. According to scientists the mini-moon will leave earth’s orbit on 25 November.
They say its travel in the orbit will be different and will not complete a full revolution of the planet, rather it would have its own way.
This asteroid is about 32ft long, much smaller if compare to Earth’s moon, which has a diameter of approximately 3,474km.
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It is not for the first time that an asteroid enter Earth’s orbit, Mini-moons have been spotted before as well and hundreds of them gone unnoticed, scientists maintain.
According to them some of asteroids repeat visits even, like 2022 NX1 asteroid became a mini-moon in 1981 and again in 2022.
No worry for not seeing this one as scientists predict 2024 PT5 will also return to Earth’s orbit again in 2055 and then people might see it due to technological advancement.
