WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 Earth's moon will soon have some company 鈥 a 鈥渕ini moon.鈥
The mini moon is actually an asteroid about the size of a school bus at 33 feet (10 meters). When it whizzes by Earth on Sunday, it will be temporarily trapped by our planet's gravity and orbit the globe 鈥 but only for about two months.
The space rock 鈥 2024 PT5 鈥 was first spotted in August by astronomers at Complutense University of Madrid using a powerful telescope located in Sutherland, South Africa.
These short-lived mini moons are likely more common than we realize, said Richard Binzel, an astronomer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The last known one was detected in 2020.
鈥淭his happens with some frequency, but we rarely see them because they鈥檙e very small and very hard to detect,鈥 he said. 鈥淥nly recently has our survey capability reached the point of spotting them routinely.鈥
The discovery by Carlos de la Fuente Marcos and Ra煤l de la Fuente Marcos was
This one won鈥檛 be visible to the naked eye or through amateur telescopes, but it 鈥渃an be observed with relatively large, research-grade telescopes,鈥 Carlos de la Fuente Marcos said in an email.
Binzel, who was not involved in the research, said it鈥檚 not clear whether the space rock originated as an asteroid or as 鈥渁 chunk of the moon that got blasted out.鈥
The mini moon will circle the globe for almost 57 days but won't complete a full orbit. On Nov. 25, it will part ways with the Earth and continue its solo trajectory through the cosmos. It's expected to pass by again in 2055.
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