While Earth’s moon has orbited our planet for billions of years, this temporary mini-moon won\u2019t last long. Experts say it will not remain with Earth for the rest of the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the asteroid\u2019s capture began at 3:54 p.m. EDT (1954 UTC). It will exit Earth’s orbit on Nov. 25 at 11:43 a.m. EDT (1543 UTC). Professor Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, a mini-moon event expert at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, shared these details with Space.com on Sept. 25. <\/p>\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ireportstlucia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/2-24-PT5.2.jpg?resize=696%2C454&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe Arjuna Asteroid Belt<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis object belongs to the Arjuna asteroid belt, which follows orbits similar to Earth\u2019s,\u201d Marcos said. Objects in this belt are part of a population of near-Earth asteroids and comets. The asteroid orbits the sun at an average distance of 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Not Uncommon<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Though the idea of a second moon may sound unusual, these temporary captures happen frequently, astronomers said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Marcos explained, “Asteroid 2024 PT5 will not complete a full orbit around Earth. It\u2019s more like window shopping.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Visibility and Observation<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, this mini-moon will be hard to observe for the average skywatcher. \u201cThe object is too small and dim for amateur telescopes,\u201d Marcos said. Yet, professional telescopes can detect it. A telescope with a 30-inch diameter and a CCD or CMOS detector will be needed for viewing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the asteroid is so dim, it will not be visible to star-gazers in the night sky from Saint Lucia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Source\/Photo: space.com\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASA scientists predicted that Earth captured a second “mini-moon” on Sunday, Sept. 29. This small object is asteroid 2024 PT5, which typically orbits the sun as part of a small asteroid belt that follows Earth.\u00a0\u00a0 Short-lived Satellite While Earth’s moon has orbited our planet for billions of years, this temporary mini-moon won\u2019t last long. Experts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,32,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-featured","category-news","category-regional"],"yoast_head":"\n