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[00:00.67] The astronomers say 2024 PT5 should head back to Earth in the coming weeks.

[00:09.97] It is expected to pass as close as 1.8 million kilometers from Earth in January.

[00:19.26] The moon stays at a distance of about 384,000 kilometers from our planet, NASA explains.

[00:30.42] The asteroid will then move farther into the solar system while orbiting the sun.

[00:37.86] Scientists say the next time the object is expected to make another close move toward Earth is in 2055.

[00:49.28] Raul de la Fuente Marcos told the AP that 2024 PT5 was first identified in August and began its move toward Earth in late September.

[01:04.69] He said the object’s path was similar to the shape of a horseshoe.

[01:11.06] De la Fuente Marcos noted that by the time the asteroid returns in January, it will be moving at more than double the speed from September.

[01:22.75] Current data suggests that during its 2055 visit, it will again make a temporary and partial circle around Earth.

[01:35.50] NASA said teams at its Center for Near Earth Object Studies had continually followed the movements of 2024 PT5.

[01:48.51] It is normal for NASA and its international partners to continuously search the skies for near-Earth objects.

[01:58.61] Such objects include asteroids and comets that come within 50 million kilometers of Earth’s orbit.

[02:09.50] The search system, called ATLAS, involves four different telescopes.

[02:16.67] Two of them are based in Hawaii. Another operates in Chile and the other sits in South Africa.

[02:26.25] NASA explains that ATLAS is designed to search the whole sky several times each night looking for moving objects.

[02:37.14] The space agency says it will use its large Goldstone Solar System Radar observer – which sits in Barstow, California – to follow 2024 PT5 when it again is pulled toward Earth’s orbit in 2025.