Some things in life are utter bullshit. Like this mini-moon that’s going to be circling the earth for the next two months. That moon is bullshit. Not bullshit in that it’s fake or something. It’s totally real. But it’s bullshit that we’re going to essentially have a second moon like we’re living on an alien planet from a sci-fi adventure and we can’t even see it because it won’t even be visible to the amateur telescopes, much less to the naked eye. Why even bother having a mini-moon in the first place? See? Bullshit.
Sorry to bring you the news of a glorious second moon and then immediately snatch it away from you like that. It’s not fair to you or me. But that’s the reality of our celestial neighborhood.
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In late September, the Earth’s gravitational field will temporarily capture a small asteroid called 2024 PT5. It was discovered on August 7 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System, or ATLUS. 2024 PT5 will become a mini-moon for the Earth from September 29 through November 25. But you won’t be able to see it because it’s only 33 feet in diameter. You’d be lucky to see it if it was on the ground only a mile away. Even some of the Earth’s most powerful telescopes will have trouble catching it.
During its 56-day journey around the earth, it will complete one full orbit before spinning off into the cosmos.
Researchers Carlos de la Fuente Marcos and Raúl de la Fuente Marcos from Complutense University of Madrid have been studying 2024 PT5 and say it likely came from the Arjuna asteroid belt, a collection of Near Earth Objects within our solar system.
While the phenomenon of a mini-moon isn’t new, it is rare. 2022 NX1 is an asteroid that mini-mooned itself twice, once in 1981 and again in 2022. It’ll come back in 2051, and it also won’t be visible when it comes back because it’s also 33 feet in diameter. All I get from all this is that these bastards don’t have the balls to show themselves.
