The Discovery and Characterization of Minimoon 2024 PT5
Minimoons are asteroids that become temporarily captured by the Earth–Moon system. We present the discovery of 2024 PT _5 , a minimoon discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System Sutherland telescope on 2024 August 7. The minimoon with heliocentric semimajor axis, a ~ 1.01 au, a...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ada1d0 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1841552018544525312 |
|---|---|
| author | Bryce T. Bolin Larry Denneau Laura-May Abron Robert Jedicke Kristin Chiboucas Carl Ingebretsen Brian C. Lemaux |
| author_facet | Bryce T. Bolin Larry Denneau Laura-May Abron Robert Jedicke Kristin Chiboucas Carl Ingebretsen Brian C. Lemaux |
| author_sort | Bryce T. Bolin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Minimoons are asteroids that become temporarily captured by the Earth–Moon system. We present the discovery of 2024 PT _5 , a minimoon discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System Sutherland telescope on 2024 August 7. The minimoon with heliocentric semimajor axis, a ~ 1.01 au, and perihelion, q ~ 0.99 au, became captured by the Earth–Moon system on 2024 September 29 and left on 2024 November 25 UTC. Visible g , r , i , and Z spectrophotometry was obtained using Gemini North/Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on 2024 September 27. The color indices are g − r = 0.58 ± 0.04, r − i = 0.29 ± 0.04, and i − Z = −0.27 ± 0.06, and the spectrum best matches lunar rock samples followed by S-complex asteroids. Assuming an albedo of 0.21 and using our measured absolute magnitude of 28.64 ± 0.04, 2024 PT _5 has a diameter of 5.4 ± 1.2 m. We also detect variations in the lightcurve of 2024 PT _5 with a 0.28 ± 0.07 mag amplitude and a double-peaked period of ~2600 ± 500 s. We improve the orbital solution of 2024 PT _5 with our astrometry and estimate the effect of radiation pressure on its deriving an area-to-mass ratio of 7.02 ± 2.05 × 10 ^−5 m ^2 kg ^−1 , implying a density of ~3.9 ± 2.1 g cm ^−3 , compatible with having a rocky composition. If we assume 2024 PT _5 is from the near-Earth object (NEO) population, its most likely sources are resonances in the inner Main Belt when we compare its orbit with the NEO population model though this does not exclude a lunar origin. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d31336b79b95498eaa406143f304b64e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-d31336b79b95498eaa406143f304b64e2025-01-09T13:55:46ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052025-01-019782L3710.3847/2041-8213/ada1d0The Discovery and Characterization of Minimoon 2024 PT5Bryce T. Bolin0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4950-6323Larry Denneau1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7034-148XLaura-May Abron2https://orcid.org/0009-0000-8709-5273Robert Jedicke3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7830-028XKristin Chiboucas4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9020-5004Carl Ingebretsen5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7053-5495Brian C. Lemaux6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1428-7036Eureka Scientific , Oakland, CA 94602, USAInstitute for Astronomy, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa , Honolulu, HI 96822, USAGriffith Observatory , Los Angeles, CA 90027, USAInstitute for Astronomy, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa , Honolulu, HI 96822, USAGemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab , Hilo, HI 96720, USAWilliam H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University , Baltimore, MD 21218, USAGemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab , Hilo, HI 96720, USA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Davis , 1 Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USAMinimoons are asteroids that become temporarily captured by the Earth–Moon system. We present the discovery of 2024 PT _5 , a minimoon discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System Sutherland telescope on 2024 August 7. The minimoon with heliocentric semimajor axis, a ~ 1.01 au, and perihelion, q ~ 0.99 au, became captured by the Earth–Moon system on 2024 September 29 and left on 2024 November 25 UTC. Visible g , r , i , and Z spectrophotometry was obtained using Gemini North/Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on 2024 September 27. The color indices are g − r = 0.58 ± 0.04, r − i = 0.29 ± 0.04, and i − Z = −0.27 ± 0.06, and the spectrum best matches lunar rock samples followed by S-complex asteroids. Assuming an albedo of 0.21 and using our measured absolute magnitude of 28.64 ± 0.04, 2024 PT _5 has a diameter of 5.4 ± 1.2 m. We also detect variations in the lightcurve of 2024 PT _5 with a 0.28 ± 0.07 mag amplitude and a double-peaked period of ~2600 ± 500 s. We improve the orbital solution of 2024 PT _5 with our astrometry and estimate the effect of radiation pressure on its deriving an area-to-mass ratio of 7.02 ± 2.05 × 10 ^−5 m ^2 kg ^−1 , implying a density of ~3.9 ± 2.1 g cm ^−3 , compatible with having a rocky composition. If we assume 2024 PT _5 is from the near-Earth object (NEO) population, its most likely sources are resonances in the inner Main Belt when we compare its orbit with the NEO population model though this does not exclude a lunar origin.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ada1d0Near-Earth objectsSmall Solar System bodies |
| spellingShingle | Bryce T. Bolin Larry Denneau Laura-May Abron Robert Jedicke Kristin Chiboucas Carl Ingebretsen Brian C. Lemaux The Discovery and Characterization of Minimoon 2024 PT5 The Astrophysical Journal Letters Near-Earth objects Small Solar System bodies |
| title | The Discovery and Characterization of Minimoon 2024 PT5 |
| title_full | The Discovery and Characterization of Minimoon 2024 PT5 |
| title_fullStr | The Discovery and Characterization of Minimoon 2024 PT5 |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Discovery and Characterization of Minimoon 2024 PT5 |
| title_short | The Discovery and Characterization of Minimoon 2024 PT5 |
| title_sort | discovery and characterization of minimoon 2024 pt5 |
| topic | Near-Earth objects Small Solar System bodies |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ada1d0 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT brycetbolin thediscoveryandcharacterizationofminimoon2024pt5 AT larrydenneau thediscoveryandcharacterizationofminimoon2024pt5 AT lauramayabron thediscoveryandcharacterizationofminimoon2024pt5 AT robertjedicke thediscoveryandcharacterizationofminimoon2024pt5 AT kristinchiboucas thediscoveryandcharacterizationofminimoon2024pt5 AT carlingebretsen thediscoveryandcharacterizationofminimoon2024pt5 AT brianclemaux thediscoveryandcharacterizationofminimoon2024pt5 AT brycetbolin discoveryandcharacterizationofminimoon2024pt5 AT larrydenneau discoveryandcharacterizationofminimoon2024pt5 AT lauramayabron discoveryandcharacterizationofminimoon2024pt5 AT robertjedicke discoveryandcharacterizationofminimoon2024pt5 AT kristinchiboucas discoveryandcharacterizationofminimoon2024pt5 AT carlingebretsen discoveryandcharacterizationofminimoon2024pt5 AT brianclemaux discoveryandcharacterizationofminimoon2024pt5 |