Earth’s ‘Second Moon: A mysterious asteroid discovered in 2016, called Kamo’oalewa, has astronomers pondering its origins. New research suggests it might not just be any space rock – it could be a chunk of the Moon that flung into Earth’s orbit millions of years ago.
The analysis, led by astronomer Yifei Jiao of Tsinghua University in China, examined Kamo’oalewa’s properties and traced them back to a specific crater on the Moon’s far side – the Giordano Bruno crater. The team’s findings, published in a scientific paper, suggest a link between the asteroid and the lunar impact that created the crater.
“Our research supports the idea that Kamo’oalewa originated from the formation of the Giordano Bruno crater a few million years ago,” Jiao explains. This discovery could be a major breakthrough, directly connecting a specific asteroid to its source crater on the Moon. It also suggests the possibility of discovering more lunar fragments in near-Earth space.