For a little over a month now, the Earth has been joined by a new ‘mini-moon.’ The object is an asteroid that has been temporarily accompanying Earth on its journey around the Sun. By 25th November it will have departed but before then, astronomers across the world have been turning their telescopes to study it. … Continue reading "Here’s What We Know About Earth’s Temporary Mini-Moon"

For the last 6 weeks, Earth has been joined by a new “mini-moon” asteroid that has been temporarily orbiting near our planet. It departs again on November 25th, but not before astronomers turned some of the world’s largest telescopes toward it. According to a new paper, 2024 PT5 is basaltic, similar to volcanic rocks, and matches the composition of Sv-type asteroids or lunar material. It spins once in less than an hour and has had many close encounters with Earth.