Astronomers have found further evidence that the near-Earth asteroid Kamoaleva is part of the Moon. The results of the research were published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.

Asteroid Kamoaleva is a Hawaiian name meaning “shaking piece.” It is a rock the size of a Ferris wheel that orbits the Earth at a distance of 14.4 million km every April. Since the object was discovered in 2016, scientists have puzzled over the origin of this strange rock and were surprised when a 2021 analysis showed that Kamoalev’s composition was similar to that of the moon.

Scientists explained how this asteroid was born. They modeled asteroid impacts on the moon and the gravitational forces thrown up by the rock. As a result, researchers noticed that some rocks entered Earth orbit. Before the calculations, astronomers expected most of the material ejected from the Moon to either return to the Moon or rain down on Earth.

Scientists said their results will help better understand dangerous near-Earth asteroids. There are plans to find out exactly when the coup took place. Source