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The earth will have a new moon at the end of September according to scientists. What do we know so far?
Here’s everything you need to know about the new moon that Earth is set to have at the end of the month.
Dear Earthlings, we are on our way.
Your planet is about to receive its second moon as we approach at a speed of around 2,200mph (3,540km/h), hurling towards the third rock from the sun in the Solar System that sits inside the Milky Way galaxy.
We come in peace from the Arjuna asteroid belt, and sit at an average distance to the sun of about 93 million miles. Anyway, let me tell you all about our humble rock you will call ‘moon’ for a short while.
Our home, named 2024 PT5 by Earth scientists (and we like it) is set to be pulled in by Earth’s gravitational force and will therefore become a temporary “mini-moon” for your planet. We will arrive around September 29 and rest for a couple of months before we manage to escape your gravitational field.
Unless you possess a specialised, professional telescope, the new moon will be too small to see, so we won’t shine as much as your regular satellite, of which I hear you are very fond and have even visited a few times during its 4 billion-year lifespan. To give you an idea of the size, your planet is, according to our estimations, 3,474km in diameter, whereas our asteroid is just around 32ft (10m) long.
How has Earth got a new moon?
It came to our attention that NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) spotted our rock; we put the dates into a converter and it seems it was first seen on what you would call 7 August 2024.
As said, we come from the Arjuna asteroid belt, and we are travelling slowly enough to be affected by your planet’s gravity, which is hugely more powerful than ours. While this speed is deemed ‘slow’ when referring to interstellar objects, I gather that you have not mastered travelling anywhere near this on land.
Do not worry if you do not see us, Earthlings, 2024 PT5 will also return to your orbit again in 2055, although your measly lifespans are nothing compared to that of others living on nearby planets, who are all lovely. They just don’t know why you are so unsociable.