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Earth will soon get a mini moon for about a month
[Space] This month, Earth will grab itself a second moon in the form of the tiny (about 40' by 30') asteroid 2024 PT5.  Unlike the moon, Earth's primary companion which has accompanied our planet for around 4 billion years, this "new mini-moon" will stick around for just two months before it heads back to its home in an asteroid belt trailing our planet and orbiting the sun. A team of scientists well-versed in the study of so-called "mini-moon events " identified the forthcoming gravitational capture event. They spotted the peculiar dynamic properties of 2024 PT5 as they routinely monitored newly discovered objects for potentially interesting behavior. Posted by: Lord Garth 2024-09-20 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=715584 |