Earth bids farewell to 'mini moon' asteroid set for return visit in 2055

• Planet Earth is bidding farewell to a "mini moon," a harmless asteroid named 2024 PT5, which has been trailing Earth for 2 months and volition permission connected Monday, drawn distant by the sun’s stronger gravitational pull.
• First spotted successful August, the asteroid began its little gravitational enactment with Earth successful precocious September.
• After its departure, the asteroid is not expected to instrumentality adjacent Earth until 2055.

Planet Earth is parting institution with an asteroid that’s been tagging on arsenic a "mini moon" for the past 2 months.

The harmless abstraction stone volition peel distant connected Monday, flooded by the stronger tug of the sun’s gravity. But it volition zip person for a speedy sojourn successful January.

NASA volition usage a radar antenna to observe the 33-foot asteroid then. That should deepen scientists’ knowing of the entity known arsenic 2024 PT5, rather perchance a boulder that was blasted disconnected the moon by an impacting, crater-forming asteroid.

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While not technically a satellite — NASA stresses it was ne'er captured by Earth’s gravity and afloat successful orbit — it’s "an absorbing object" worthy of study.

A supermoon with a partial lunar eclipse rises implicit Lake Michigan successful Chicago, connected Sept. 17, 2024. Planet Earth is parting institution with an asteroid that’s been tagging on arsenic a "mini moon" for the past 2 months. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

The astrophysicist brothers who identified the asteroid’s "mini satellite behavior," Raul and Carlos de la Fuente Marcos of Complutense University of Madrid, person collaborated with telescopes successful the Canary Islands for hundreds of observations truthful far.

Currently much than 2 cardinal miles away, the entity is excessively tiny and faint to spot without a almighty telescope. It volition walk arsenic adjacent arsenic 1.1 cardinal miles of Earth successful January, maintaining a harmless region earlier it zooms farther into the star strategy portion orbiting the sun, not to instrumentality until 2055. That’s astir 5 times farther than the moon.

The NASA logo is displayed astatine NASA office successful Washington, DC, connected June 21, 2023. (STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

First spotted successful August, the asteroid began its semi jog astir Earth successful precocious September, aft coming nether the grips of Earth’s gravity and pursuing a horseshoe-shaped path. 

By the clip it returns adjacent year, it volition beryllium moving excessively accelerated — much than treble its velocity from September — to bent around, said Raul de la Fuente Marcos.

The Waning Gibbous satellite is seen connected June 8, 2023, successful New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

NASA volition track the asteroid for much than a week successful January utilizing the Goldstone star strategy radar antenna successful California’s Mojave Desert, portion of the Deep Space Network.

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Current information suggest that during its 2055 visit, the sun-circling asteroid volition erstwhile again marque a impermanent and partial thigh astir Earth.