Sign In
Learn bits
Science & Tech.
Mahesh

20/09/24 11:58 AM IST

Mini-moon

In News
  • According to a new study, the Earth’s gravitational field will temporarily capture a small asteroid, called 2024 PT5, in late September. 
Mini- Moon
  • Mini-moons are asteroids that fail to escape Earth’s gravity and end up orbiting the planet for some time.
  • They are usually very small and hard to detect — only four mini-moons of Earth have ever been discovered, and none are still orbiting Earth, according to a report by The Planetary Society.
  • Some may actually have been space debris.
  • The Gaia spacecraft was once mistaken for a minimoon, and so were rocket stages from the Chang’e 2 and Lunar Prospector missions.
2024 PT5
  • The asteroid was discovered with the help of the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).
  • It is estimated to be just 33 feet long and is too small to be visible to the naked eye or through typical amateur telescopes.
  • However, the asteroid is within the brightness range of telescopes used by professional astronomers.
  • 2024 PT5 has come to visit from “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 150 million kilometres.
  • The asteroid could possibly be a “piece of ejecta from an impact on the moon.
Significance
  • The observations of 2024 PT5 will help scientists expand the knowledge of asteroids that pass close to the Earth and those that sometimes collide with it.
  • Many asteroids contain valuable minerals and water, which companies hope to extract one day and use for purposes such as rocket fuel.
Source- Indian Express

More Related Current Affairs View All

04 Aug

Maharashtra’s new security Bill

'The Maharashtra Legislature passed the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill or a ‘Bill to provide for effective prevention of certain unlawful activities of Left Wing Ex

Read More

04 Aug

New Project to curb rhino poaching through radioactive isotope injections

'Recently, South African scientists injected radioactive material into live rhinoceros horns to make them easier to detect at border posts in a pioneering project aimed at curbing

Read More

04 Aug

National Sports Governance Bill

'Recently, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports introduced the National Sports Governance Bill, 2025 in the Lok Sabha. ' The National Sports Governance Bill, 2025 draws from

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps