Pournami Sept 2024 ! ~ Second Moon tiny asteroid 2024 PT5

Sept. 17, 2024 was Pournami and we were able to see a full beautiful moon. Elsewhere in some other part of the globe it was partial lunar eclipse.  A partial lunar eclipse happens when part of the moon enters Earth's shadow - in this case, about 8% of the moon.  The 2024 partial lunar eclipse was  visible across North America Tuesday night  - not in Chennai ! 

இரவும் நிலவும் வளரட்டுமே..

நம் இனிமை நினைவுகள் தொடரட்டுமே 

நிலவு என்றவுடன் உடன் நினைவுக்கு வரும் பாடல் – TM  சௌந்தரராஜன் பி சுசீலா குரலில், விஸ்வநாதன் ராமமூர்த்தி இன்னிசையில், 1964ல் வெளிவந்த கர்ணன் திரைப்படம் - BR பந்துலு தயாரித்து இயக்கிய படம் - சிவாஜி கணேசன், ராமராவ், சாவித்திரி, தேவிகா மற்றும் பலர் நடித்த படம்.   Read that this song is set to -  Shuddha Sarang.  Among the day time Raagas, Shuddha Sarang, a member of the Sarang Family, produces a strong and lasting impression. The Raag mood is at once menifested by the simultaneous presentation of both Madhyams followed by Rishabh in Avroh (M m R). !!! 

Earth’s only natural satellite is always exhilarating and mankind has been in love with Moon !!  - how it would be to have another moon ? ? – according to Scientists, the  Earth's closest celestial companion—shining light on the darkest of nights—faces rare competition, albeit for a brief amount of time.

 

This month, Earth will grab itself a second moon in the form of the tiny asteroid 2024 PT5.    This "mini-moon" will be with us for the next two months, but it's not its first visit and it won't be the last. This temporary mini-moon is actually a small asteroid about 10 meters (33 feet) wide. Officially known as 2024 PT₅, the rock was only discovered last month, and calculations of its path indicate it will become a satellite of Earth on September 29. It will be our little travel companion for 56.6 days, completing one full orbit of Earth in that time. After that, the rock will break free from our gravitational grasp on November 25, returning to its path around the Sun. 

Unlike the moon, Earth's primary companion which has accompanied our planet for around 4 billion years, this "new mini-moon" will stick around for just two months before it heads back to its home in an asteroid belt trailing our planet and orbiting the sun. A team of scientists well-versed in the study of so-called "mini-moon events " identified the forthcoming gravitational capture event. They spotted the peculiar dynamic properties of 2024 PT5 as they routinely monitored newly discovered objects for potentially interesting behavior. 

"The object that is going to pay us a visit belongs to the Arjuna asteroid belt, a secondary asteroid belt made of space rocks that follow orbits very similar to that of Earth at an average distance to the sun of about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers), research lead author and  Universidad Complutense de Madrid professor Carlos de la Fuente Marcos told Space.com. "Objects in the Arjuna asteroid belt are part of the near-Earth object population of asteroids and comets." Marcos explained that some of these objects in the Arjuna asteroid belt can approach Earth at a close range of around 2.8 million miles (4.5 million km) and at low velocities of around 2,200 miles per hour (3,540 km/h).  "Under these conditions, the geocentric energy of the object may grow negative, and the object may become a temporary moon of Earth. This particular object will undergo this process starting next week and for about two months," he added. "It will not follow a full orbit around Earth. 

"You may say that if a true satellite is like a customer buying goods inside a store, objects like 2024 PT5 are window shoppers."  The Arjuna asteroids (also known as "Arjunas") are a dynamical group of asteroids in the Solar System. Arjunas are near-Earth objects (NEOs) whose orbits are very Earth-like in character, having low inclination, orbital periods close to one year, and low eccentricity. The group is named after Arjuna, our  hero of the  epic Mahabharata. The definition is somewhat more relevant and overlaps the definition of the four well-established Apollo, Amor, Aten and Atira groups.  

 

2024 PT₅ will then swing past for a final goodbye on 9 January 2025, coming within 1.8 million kilometers (1.1 million miles) of Earth before heading back out into the inky blackness. It's not farewell forever, however – 2024 PT₅ is predicted to come back on November 8, 2055. It won't be quite as cozy next time though, flying by at a distance of 5.2 million kilometers (3.3 million miles).

 
Interesting ! 
 
With regards – S Sampathkumar
19.9.2024