Earth now has not 1 but 2 moons, what is the connection of the new mini moon with the Mahabharata period, which is being discussed a lot.

Science News: Since childhood, we have been saying – Chanda Mama is far away… Since childhood, we used to have only one Chanda Mama… But, you will be surprised to know that there is another moon near our earth. However, this happiness is going to last only for a few moments. It will remain near the earth only till November, then it will get lost somewhere in the extreme darkness of space. It is being called ‘mini-moon’. This mini-moon is an asteroid, named ‘2024 PT5’. Its shape is like a school bus. It passed near the Earth on Sunday (29 September) and the Earth pulled it closer to itself with its gravity. It will revolve around the Earth only for 57 days.

Let us tell you that ‘2024 PT 5’ was discovered on August 7, 2024 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). This is an independent system of the American space agency NASA. This is done to monitor asteroids near the Earth. In a report published in Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society (RNAAS), astronomers say that the orbital characteristics of 2024 PT5 are similar to those of asteroids from the Arjuna asteroid belt.

Part of Arjun asteroid group
Dr. Anil Kumar, head of ISRO’s Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis (NETRA), also keeps a close eye on asteroids. He told that ‘Mini Moon’ is part of Arjun asteroid group. The group was named in honor of Arjuna, a central character from the epic Mahabharata, who was known for his archery skills and bravery. Like Arjuna’s swift arrows, the name reflects both the asteroid’s swift movement through the solar system and its nature.

This asteroid is 350,000 times smaller than Earth’s Moon. Its diameter is 10 meters. Two NASA scientists, Carlos de la Fuente Marcos and Raul de la Fuente Marcos, said, ‘These NEOs follow a horseshoe-shaped path. They undergo mini-moon events after coming within close range of our planet. That means these planets are attracted by the gravity of the Earth and they complete one revolution around the Earth for hours, days or months.

It will pass again in 2055
Marcos said that this is not the first time that mini moons have appeared around the Earth. A report said that this had also happened in 1997, 2013 and 2018. On November 25, asteroid ‘2024 PT5’ will fly away from Earth. It is expected to pass near Earth again in 2055.

Tags: Mission Moon, Nasa study