The asteroid 2024 PT5, which was captured by Earth’s gravity on September 29 and orbited the Earth as a temporary mini-moon for almost two months, has left Earth’s orbit again. Before he returned to the vast space, researchers managed to take a photo of him.
Astronomers managed to capture the image on Monday as the asteroid, which was only about ten meters in size, moved away from Earth’s orbit using the two-metre twin telescope at the Tenerife Observatory on Spain’s Canary Island of Tenerife.
Scientists had been clear from the start that the mini-moon was just a “temporary catch” that would orbit Earth for no more than a few weeks. The prediction came true on Monday. 2024 PT5 left Earth to return to its usual home in the Arjuna asteroid belt.
This secondary asteroid belt orbits our sun in a low Earth orbit, at an average distance of about 93 million miles. Asteroids that emerge from it have an orbit similar to Earth’s.
Brocken could be a fragment of the moon
In early August, the asteroid 2024 PT5 was detected using ground-based telescopes. The boulder was likely a piece of ejected material from an impact on Earth’s moon. The temporary miniature moon could therefore be a fragment of the real moon.
Source: Krone
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