(AP) CAPE CANAVERAL, FL An asteroid that has been following Earth like a “mini moon” for the last two months is leaving the planet.
Before vanishing back into space, a **mini moon** is a tiny natural satellite that momentarily circles a planet, like Earth. Often asteroids, these celestial objects, often referred to as “temporarily captured objects,” become trapped in a planet’s gravitational attraction for a brief time, usually a few months to a few years.
Because of their small size and low brightness, mini moons are uncommon and difficult to find. Because they provide scientists a better understanding of asteroids and the dynamics of gravitational interactions in our solar system, they present worthwhile study possibilities.
On Monday, the sun’s gravity will pull the innocuous space pebble away with more force. In January, however, it will zoom closer for a brief visit.
The 33-foot (10-meter) asteroid will thereafter be observed by NASA using a radar antenna. That should help scientists better comprehend 2024 PT5, which is presumably a rock that was blasted off the moon by an asteroid that formed craters after impact.
The phrase “mini moon” is frequently used to refer to a brief and private honeymoon that newlyweds take just after being married. A mini moon is usually a quick holiday that lasts a few days and is usually closer to home, in contrast to traditional honeymoons, which can last for several weeks and can entail substantial travel to far-flung locales. In recent years, this practice has grown in popularity, especially among couples juggling demanding work schedules, little vacation time, or tight budgets. Without the hassle or cost of organising a lengthy vacation, mini moons provide couples the ideal chance to relax, celebrate their union, and spend some quality time together.
NASA emphasises that it was never caught by Earth’s gravity and was always in complete orbit,
so even if it isn’t technically a moon, it is “an interesting object” that merits investigation.
Raul and Carlos de la Fuente Marcos of Complutense University of Madrid, astrophysicist brothers who discovered the asteroid’s “mini-space behaviour,” have so far conducted hundreds of observations using telescopes in the Canary Islands.
The object is too tiny and dim to be seen without a large telescope, and it is now over 2 million miles (3.5 million km) away. In January, it will fly as near as 1.1 million miles (1.8 million km) from Earth, keeping a safe distance before circling the sun and speeding farther into the solar system, not to return until 2055. The distance is over five times that of the moon.
The asteroid was first observed in August and, after slipping beneath Earth’s gravity and taking a horseshoe-shaped trajectory, started its semi-jog around the planet in late September. According to Raul de la Fuente Marcos, it will be travelling too quickly by the time it returns the next year—more than twice as fast as it was in September—to remain.
### Examining Mini space: Planets’ Tiny Companions
Temporary satellites, sometimes referred to as mini space, are tiny celestial entities that briefly circle planets before vanishing into space or striking their home planet. Mini moons, which are typically only a few meters to tens of meters wide, are far smaller than big moons like Jupiter’s Europa or Earth’s Moon.
These small partners are often solar system detritus, such as captured asteroids. Because of gravitational interactions with the Sun and their host planet, their orbits are frequently unstable. Their existence near planets is therefore transient, lasting anything from a few months to a few years.
NASA will use the Deep Space Network’s Goldstone solar system radar station in California’s Mojave Desert to watch the asteroid for almost a week in January.
According to current statistics, the sun-circling asteroid is expected to make another brief and partial orbit around Earth during its visit in 2055.
