Life as we know it is about to change, or at least it will temporarily when the new moon begins its orbit
Earth is about to gain a temporary second moon at the end of this month.
While it sounds pretty wild to say or even write, it's true.
A mini-moon, which is actually a small asteroid, will orbit Earth from the end of this month until November 25th.
For the last four billion years, our regular moon has been orbiting the Earth alone.
But starting next week, it will have some company.
The asteroid, named '2024 PT5', will join the moon on its journey around Earth.
Professor Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, who spoke to Space, explained:
"The object that is going to pay us a visit belongs to the Arjuna asteroid belt, a secondary asteroid belt made of space rocks that follow orbits very similar to that of Earth at an average distance to the sun of about 93 million miles [150 million kilometers].
"Objects in the Arjuna asteroid belt are part of the near-Earth object population of asteroids and comets."
Marcos, who leads the research team, and his group of scientists have been studying this asteroid.
The Arjuna asteroid belt, a collection of diverse space rocks, shares an orbit close to Earth’s.
According to the team, this tiny asteroid is expected to return to Earth's orbit again in January.
'2024 PT5' will be just 2.8 million miles away from Earth. While that might sound far, in terms of space, it's actually quite close. It will be traveling at a speed of 2,200 mph.
To put that in perspective, the International Space Station orbits Earth at 17,500 mph.
Marcos continued, "Under these conditions, the geocentric energy of the object may grow negative, and the object may become a temporary moon of Earth. This particular object will undergo this process starting next week and for about two months."
He also added, "It will not follow a full orbit around Earth. You may say that if a true satellite is like a customer buying goods inside a store, objects like 2024 PT5 are window shoppers."
So, can we see it? Well, sadly, the answer is no, or at least not with typical household items like a regular telescope or a pair of binoculars.
Marcos explained, "The object is too small and dim for typical amateur telescopes and binoculars. However, the object is well within the brightness range of typical telescopes used by professional astronomers."
He also mentioned that, "A telescope with a diameter of at least 30 inches plus a CCD or CMOS detector are needed to observe this object. A 30-inch telescope with just the human eye won’t be enough."