Minimoon, a 'rock' that fell off the moon [Now in space]

Recently, news broke that a 'minimoon' had been discovered in Earth's orbit. This asteroid, named '2024 PT5', was only 10m in diameter. It was captured by Earth's gravity and orbited for about two months before changing to an orbit around the Sun.



Analysis data on this asteroid was recently released. It was found to be rich in silicates, so it was diagnosed that it was not an object from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The results of the spectrum analysis showed that the composition of this asteroid matched that of the moon.



It was a 'rock' that broke off from the moon. NASA recently released the results of a related study, explaining, "2024 PT5 appears to be composed of rocks that broke off from the lunar surface and were released into space after a large collision."



The asteroid, named '2024 PT5', was only 10m in diameter. It was analyzed that it broke off from the moon. [Photo = NASA]



Teddy Careta, an astronomer at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, said, "We had assumed that the 2024 PT5 asteroid came from the moon, but when we found out this time that it was rich in silicate minerals, that was a critical increase. It's not the type found in regular asteroids, but the type found in moon rocks."



The 2024 PT5 asteroid was first detected on August 7, 2024, by the NASA-funded Sutherland Telescope in South Africa. Careta's research team then used related telescope facilities to discover that the spectrum of sunlight reflected from the surface of the small object did not match that of any known asteroid.



Scientists at the Center for the Study of Near Earth Objects (CNEOS) have also discovered that '2024 PT5' is distinct from space debris. "Space debris and rocks move a little differently in space," CNEOS scientists said. "Human debris is usually relatively light and is pushed by the pressure of sunlight, but '2024 PT5' did not move like that and was much denser than space debris."



In conclusion, '2024 PT5' was neither space debris nor an asteroid that came from far away, but was determined to be a 'rock' that broke off from the moon.



This is not the first asteroid like this. There is also an actual asteroid called '469219 Kamo'oalewa (2016 HO3).' 2016 HO3 also orbits the sun in a similar orbit to Earth, suggesting that it may have been ejected from the lunar surface after a major collision.



"As telescopes become more capable of detecting small asteroids, more asteroids of potential lunar origin will likely be discovered in the future," NASA said. "This will be an exciting opportunity not only for scientists studying this rare asteroid population, but also for scientists studying the moon."





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