There’s been a lot of talk about the northern lights recently, but there’s another object in the sky. Another moon. Since September 29, 2024, there has been a temporary asteroid orbiting Earth. It was captured in the atmosphere at 3:54 pm EDT and has been orbiting since. It won’t be here for long, though. It will only be staying until November 25. After that, it will go on its way, through the solar system. Scientists at the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), found this asteroid on August 7th with a professional telescope in Sutherland, South Africa. They named it “2024 PT5”.
People are calling 2024 PT5 a “second moon,” but in reality, it’s not. It does not affect the tides of the ocean like our moon. In fact, this asteroid doesn’t have much effect on Earth at all. As exciting as this asteroid may seem, most people will never be able to see it. According to space.com, It is only about thirty-six feet wide, which is around the size of a school bus. 2024 PT5 is not visible without an immense and professional telescope. Former NASA scientist Dr. Jay W. McMahon said to Earth.com reporters, that “there are likely no more large asteroids that will be near Earth in the next few years.”
According to Yale Daily News, this asteroid has traveled so far from its home. It’s from the Arjuna Asteroid group, an assembly of small asteroids and space rocks, that is approximately 93 million miles away. 2024 PT5 just so happened to get near enough to our atmosphere that it started orbiting our planet. This asteroid orbiting Earth is not a new phenomenon, we’ve had many mini-moons before. The last known time something like this happened was from 2018-2020.
Tucker Nobach, a seventh grader, says “It is an exciting once-in-a-lifetime experience.” Another seventh-grade student, Avery Schaffer, said she wished it was bigger so she could see it. She wants to learn more about it and thinks it sounds cool. She is not alone. This new asteroid is both interesting and exciting. People are excited for more information when scientists explore 2024 PT5 and other space anomalies.
