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A small asteroid orbiting closemouthed toEarthcould be a sherd of the moon that snapped off during an ancient impact , according to new research publish Nov. 11 in the journalCommunications Earth & Environment .
If confirmed , that would make theasteroidthe first near - world target with a known lunar origin — and could help shed visible radiation on the disorderly history of our planet and its pockmark fellow , the research worker say .
An artist impression of Earth quasi-satellite Kamo`oalewa near the Earth-Moon system.
The asteroid in question is anticipate Kamo`oalewa — a Hawaiian word that roughly mean " the oscillating celestial shard " — and was discovered in 2016 by uranologist using the PanSTARRS scope in Hawaii .
Though the object is about 4 million time fainter than what humans can see with the raw eye , every April the rock ’s orbit brings it secretive enough to Earth that it becomes briefly visible to our most potent telescopes . ( In this case , " skinny enough " have in mind about 9 million miles , or 14.4 million kilometers , from Earth — or about 40 times the distance between Earth andthe moon ) .
Observations show that the asteroid standard about the size of it of a ferris wheel , with a diameter of no more than 190 foot ( 58 meters ) .
Because of its close - ground orbit , Kamo`oalewa meet into a category of supernal objects called quasi - satellites — essentially , object that orbit the Dominicus , but stay pretty closely to ground . stargazer have detected plenty of quasi - satellites before , but they have a hard time canvas them in point , give the target ' typically little sizing and incredible dimness .
The descent of such petite traveller are hard to pin down — but the authors of the novel paper made an attempt to uncover Kamooalewa 's secrets by contemplate the feeble patterns of reflected light on its surface . Using the Large Binocular Telescope on a mountaintop in southern Arizona , the researchers watched Kamooalewa closely during its veritable April visits for several years .
They find that the asteroid ’s light spectrum matched that of lunar samples fromNASA ’s Apollo missions almost utterly , suggesting the ferris - wheel - sizing boulder may be a loose musical composition of lunar rubble . moreover , the asteroid ’s orbit — which is fabulously similar to Earth ’s — is irregular of the rock-and-roll that make their means toward our planet from the outersolar system , the research worker added . It seems more likely that the rock has been near us for a tenacious prison term .
" It is very unlikely that a garden - salmagundi near - Earth asteroid would ad libitum move into a quasi - satellite orbit like Kamo`oalewa ’s , " study co - author Renu Malhotra , a planetary sciences prof at the University of Arizona , said in a statement .
— How many humans could the Sun Myung Moon support ?
— How much trash is on the moon ?
— How long would it take to take the air around the moon ?
If Kamooalewa is a piece of the smashed - up lunar surface , it 's unclear what incisively kicked it idle , or how it ended up in its current sphere ; no near - terra firma object with a lunar bloodline has ever been detected before , the researchers wrote . However , after analyzing the rock music 's orbit , the team found three other near - Earth asteroids with similar enough orbital patterns that they could be considered " companions " to Kamooalewa ; all of the rocks may have been ejected into space during the same ancient lunar impact .
More inquiry on these quasi - satellite is need to pin down their origination . Luckily , researchers have a few hundred more Aprils to check up on in with Kamo`oalewa . fit in to the study authors , the asteroid will remain in its current orbit for another 300 years or so before finally turn tail into space .
See you next spring , blank neighbor !
in the beginning publish on Live Science .
