Another month, another astrological event. In addition to a New Moon in Libra and a Solar Eclipse, October is set to bring about a rather unusual celestial phenomenon: the mini moon.
Eager to catch a glimpse? We’ve got all the important details about this month’s mini moon – including exactly what it means for your star sign – below.
What is a mini moon?
Contrary to what it sounds like, a mini moon isn’t exactly a tiny moon. According to NASA, a mini moon is actually the name given to any “temporarily captured object” that enters Earth’s orbit. In other words, a mini moon is a kind of asteroid or comet that has been pulled into Earth’s orbit for a short time.
The Australian Geographic says the current mini moon is an asteroid captured from the Arjuna asteroid group, and astronomers have given it the name 2024 PT.
How long will the mini moon last?
The mini moon officially entered Earth’s realm on September 29, and is due to orbit us for 57 days, making its exit on November 25.
How often do mini moons appear?
As far as celestial events go, mini moons are pretty rare. In fact, the current mini moon is only the fifth-ever detected mini moon captured by Earth.
How big is the mini moon?
While every moon is different, this particular one is small, measuring at approximately 10 meters wide. That’s around 300,000 times smaller than Earth’s actual moon.
Can you see a mini moon with the naked eye?
Unfortunately for the stargazers among us, the mini moon’s size means it won’t be visible to the naked eye – or through most telescopes, for that matter.
Speaking to Space.com, professor Carlos de la Fuente Marcos explained, "The object is too small and dim for typical amateur telescopes and binoculars. However, the object is well within the brightness range of typical telescopes used by professional astronomers.”
How will the mini moon impact each star sign?
It might be small, but astrologers agree that there are some pretty big implications of the mini moon.
The first area of significance is that the mini moon is slated to occur in conjunction with a Solar Eclipse on October 2, a New Moon on October 3, Jupiter in retrograde on October 9, and a Full Moon on October 17. What does it all mean? Most astrologers agree that the mini moon’s presence in the midst of this chaos means that we’ll feel all the usual emotions associated with each astrological event, but a little more intensely than usual. As for which star signs will feel these effects the most, astrologer Talisa Zampieri told Bustle that water signs Cancer, Pisces and Scorpio should be on guard for the most intense impact.
Two moons in Earth’s atmosphere – i.e., the regular moon and the mini moon – could also wreak havoc on our ability to work through challenges. How, exactly? Some astrologers suggest that the presence of two moons might indicate that two complex feelings will ring true simultaneously. So for the month of October, embrace contradictions, and look beyond clear-cut answers when it comes to answering tough questions.
