It turns out Earth has a new companion, albeit temporarily. A small asteroid, now known as 2024 PT5, has been caught in Earth’s gravitational pull, making it our latest “mini moon.” This isn’t the first time our planet has had a visitor like this, but it’s still a rare event.
2024 PT5 has been drifting through space for years, and recently it wandered close enough to get snared by Earth’s gravity. But it’s not here to stay for long—scientists predict that this tiny asteroid will stick around until November, when it’ll break free and continue its journey around the Sun.
Mini-moons like this one are usually natural objects like asteroids that come close enough to Earth to get temporarily captured. However, on occasion, even pieces of old space junk can find themselves in orbit around us. In this case, 2024 PT5 is a naturally occurring asteroid.
The discovery of this mini-moon happened just last month. It was spotted by the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), a project focused on tracking objects that could pose a danger to Earth. Thankfully, 2024 PT5 isn’t a threat—it’s just a curious little traveler passing by.
Scientists wrote about their find in a paper published in Research Notes of the AAS. They’ve mapped out 2024 PT5’s path, noting that it’s following a horseshoe-like orbit. It’ll likely drift away from Earth around November 25, heading back out into space, and researchers think it could come close to us again in 2055.
If you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of this mini-moon, you might be out of luck. 2024 PT5 is too small and too faint to be seen without specialized telescopes. It’s thought to have come from the Arjuna family of asteroids, which are small objects that often pass by Earth.
While mini-moons are uncommon, they aren’t unheard of. In fact, Earth has had mini-moons before. Back in 1981, we picked up an asteroid known as 2022 NX1, which stayed with us for a while before returning for a second visit in 2022. Other planets in our solar system also experience mini-moons—Jupiter, thanks to its immense gravity, is known to have quite a few.
So, while 2024 PT5 may be just a temporary guest, it’s a fascinating reminder of the constant movement and surprises happening in space all around us.
