On September 29, 2024, the Earth will briefly receive an asteroid named 2024 PT5 as a cosmic companion. The asteroid will orbit Earth for about 53 days before drifting into space. This phenomenon is called a “mini moon.” This provides scientists with the opportunity to examine near-Earth objects and their associated dynamics.
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Features of 2024 PT5
- Size: The asteroid is about 10 meters (33 feet) in diameter, which is very small compared to Earth’s permanent satellite, which is about 3,476 kilometers in diameter. Due to this size, 2024 PT5 cannot be seen with the naked eye or even with most amateur telescopes, but it can be seen with larger professional telescopes.
- Orbital period: PT5 2024 will orbit the Earth from September 29 to November 25, 2024. Its orbit is a complex combination of the gravitational pull of the Earth and the sun.
- Distance from Earth: The mini-moon’s closest distance to Earth is about 2.6 million miles, ten times the distance between the Earth and the moon. This distance poses no collision hazard to Earth.
Discover and monitor
The asteroid was discovered on August 7, 2024 by the Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Final Alert System (ATLAS), which is funded by NASA and operates out of Hawaii. ATLAS is designed to monitor near-Earth asteroids that may pose a threat or provide scientific insights.
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The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is also involved in monitoring the mini-satellite through its Network for Space Object Tracking and Analysis (NETRA).
Learn about mini satellites
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A minimoon is a small asteroid that is only temporarily affected by the planet’s gravity. They spend weeks to months in orbit before being thrown back to their original orbit around the sun. Mini-satellites occur relatively rarely; on average, they occur about once every 10 to 20 years.
history
Mini-satellites are not a new phenomenon. These early examples include:
1991 VG: The first confirmed mini-moon, orbiting the Earth in about a year.
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2006 RH120: stuck in orbit for almost a year.
Other examples were recorded in 2013 and 2018, suggesting that such incidents are uncommon.
scientific importance
With the tentative capture of PT5 in 2024, there is still a good chance of collecting useful information about its composition, structure and orbital characteristics. Improved observations during this period could shed light on near-Earth objects and how they interact with objects in the planets. Further study of such mini-moons could shed light on the origin and evolution of asteroids in the solar system.
This will be an exciting moment in the history of astronomy, as minisatellite 2024 PT5 will come to town and take a brief glimpse before escaping into the cosmic horizon, allowing scientists to understand the behavior of these near-Earth objects. Detection technology will further develop, discovering more of these ephemeral companions and providing a richer understanding of the universe and its dynamic nature.
Source: https://dinhtienhoang.edu.vn
Category: Optical Illusion