Asteroid Kamo'oalewa may have originated from Moon, astronomers claim

Asteroid Kamo'oalewa may have originated from Moon, astronomers claim
23 Apr 2024

A team of astronomers led by Yifei Jiao at Tsinghua University has proposed that the near-Earth asteroid Kamo'oalewa, measuring between 130-328 feet in diameter, may have originated from the Moon.

Their research suggests that this asteroid could have been dislodged from a lunar feature called the Giordano Bruno crater.

The team stated in their paper, "We have presented support for Kamo'oalewa's possible origin from the formation of the Giordano Bruno crater a few million years ago."

Kamo'oalewa's orbit and composition make it a unique object
Asteroid analysis

Kamo'oalewa has been a subject of interest for astronomers due to its unique orbit around the Sun, which mirrors Earth's and is predicted to remain stable for millions of years.

Furthermore, spectral analysis has revealed that the asteroid's composition closely resembles that of the Moon.

This discovery could potentially establish a direct link between a specific asteroid and its lunar source crater, suggesting the existence of more small asteroids made of lunar material in near-Earth space.

Kamo'oalewa is relatively young, say researchers
Simulation findings

Jiao and his team used computer simulations to predict the outcome if Kamo'oalewa were to collide with the Moon's surface.

The results suggest that such an impact would create a crater exceeding 19.3km in diameter. This aligns with the Giordano Bruno crater, which has a diameter of 21.9km.

The absence of debris also indicates that Kamo'oalewa is relatively young, estimated to be between 10-100 million years old.

Giordano Bruno is the only possible source crater
Crater connection

The researchers noted, "It is clear that the largest, youngest craters are more probable sources, as they produce more escaping fragments that still remain in space or the Earth co-orbital region."

They concluded that Giordano Bruno "is the only possible source crater satisfying the criterion."

While further research is needed to conclusively link Kamo'oalewa to this crater, this theory offers intriguing insights into the Moon's recent history.