CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A small asteroid, which has been orbiting Earth for the past two months, is departing.
The asteroid’s trajectory will shift on Monday due to the sun’s gravitational pull. However, a brief return visit is anticipated in January.
NASA plans to utilize a radar antenna to study the 33-foot (10-meter) asteroid, potentially a fragment from a larger impact event, in January. This observation aims to enhance scientific understanding of the object, designated 2024 PT5.
Although not a true moon—NASA emphasizes it was never fully captured by Earth’s gravity—it’s considered “an interesting object” warranting further investigation.
Raul and Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, astrophysicist brothers from Complutense University of Madrid, who first identified the asteroid’s temporary lunar-like behavior, have collaborated with Canary Islands telescopes for extensive observation, accumulating hundreds of data points.
Currently over 2 million miles (3.5 million kilometers) away, the asteroid is too small and dim for naked-eye viewing. Its closest approach in January will be 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers), a safe distance. Afterwards, it will continue its solar orbit, not returning until 2055, at a distance nearly five times farther than the moon.
Initially detected in August, the asteroid began its semi-orbit around Earth in late September after being influenced by Earth’s gravity. Its horseshoe-shaped path will not continue in 2025 due to increased velocity, more than double its September speed, according to Raul de la Fuente Marcos.
NASA’s Goldstone solar system radar antenna in California’s Mojave Desert, part of the Deep Space Network, will track the asteroid for over a week in January.
Preliminary data suggests a repeat of this temporary, partial Earth orbit is possible during the asteroid’s 2055 approach.
