A team of astronomers has found a new clue that the recently discovered near-Earth asteroid Kamo’oaleva may be part of the Moon. They hypothesized that the asteroid was ejected from the Moon’s surface during a meteorite impact and found that a rare path could allow Kamoale to enter an orbit around the Sun while remaining close to the orbits of the Earth and Moon.

The research team details their findings in the journal issue Contact Earth and Environment October 23. Kamo’oalewa has been the subject of many astronomical studies in recent years. As a result, a Chinese mission starting in 2025 will land on an asteroid and return samples to Earth.

“Elements of this cosmic body can tell us about the formation of the Earth’s moon and improve our knowledge of near-Earth asteroids,” said Aaron Rosengren, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UC San Diego. the paper’s senior writers.

Until now, only distant asteroids beyond the orbit of Mars were thought to be the source of near-Earth asteroids, said Renu Malhotra, professor of planetary sciences at the University of Arizona and senior author of the paper. “We now determine that the Moon is more likely to be the source of Kamo’oalewa,” Malhotra said.

This means that many parts of the Moon have yet to be discovered among the near-Earth asteroid population.

Kamo’oalewa is unusual in that it is a quasi-satellite of the Earth; It is a term used for asteroids whose orbits are very similar to those of the Earth and appear to orbit the Earth while they actually orbit the Sun. Another special aspect of Kamo’oalewa is how long it has been in this type of orbit, said University of Arizona Physics Department graduate student Jose Daniel Castro-Cisneros, lead author of the study and co-author of Rosengren’s study. recommendation.

The asteroid is expected to remain a satellite of Earth for millions of years, switching repeatedly between its current quasi-satellite state and horseshoe-shaped co-orbital motion, Castro-Cisneros said.

So how did it get here? Malhotra said the research team wanted to determine whether it was possible for a sliver of the moon to fall into this quasi-satellite orbit; “This is an unlikely event,” Malhotra said. Moon fragments that have enough kinetic energy to leave the Earth-Moon system often have too much energy to descend into Earth orbits of quasi-satellites, he said.

When the team developed numerical simulations that accurately accounted for the gravitational forces of all the planets in the Solar System, they found that there was a 6.6% chance that some parts of the Moon would actually enter coorbital orbits, or an even rarer 0.8%. %. % — Emergence of transitional movement as in Kamo’oalewa.

“Modern analysis and design of space missions have been using rare space highways for years. We wanted to know how Kamo’oalewa adapted,” Rosengren said.

Throughout its history, the Moon has been bombarded by asteroids, as evidenced by the numerous impact craters preserved on its surface. These impacts cause lunar material to be ejected from the Moon’s surface, but most of this material usually returns to the Moon. Some of the thrown materials turn into meteors and fall to Earth.

However, a small portion can escape the gravity of both the Moon and the Earth and orbit the Sun like other near-Earth asteroids. Numerical simulations suggest that Kamo’oalewa may be one of even smaller groups providing access to Earth’s inaccessible co-orbital space.

The results of the research could help learn more about near-Earth asteroids that are considered dangerous to Earth. More detailed studies to determine the origin of the asteroid from Kamo’oalewa’s specific impact crater on the Moon would provide useful information about the mechanics of the impact.

In the future, Castro-Cisneros said the team plans to determine the specific conditions that allow for Kamo’oalewa’s orbital path. According to him, the group also aims to work to determine Kamoaleva’s exact age.

“We need more information to say with confidence that Kamo’oaleva is indeed part of the Moon,” Rosengren said, adding that “a space mission to this unique celestial body is warranted.”