“Scientists have discovered that a near-Earth asteroid was once a part of the moon, and they have now identified the crater it left behind.”

An unusual asteroid, dubbed 2016 HO3, is currently in close proximity to Earth, and while it’s speculated to be a fragment of the moon, the exact reasons behind its journey through the solar system have remained elusive. However, researchers believe they’ve made a significant breakthrough in unraveling this cosmic enigma.

This space rock, classified as a rare quasi-satellite, orbits the sun but maintains a close proximity to our planet. Initially spotted in 2016 using the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii, astronomers have affectionately named it Kamo’oalewa, drawing inspiration from a Hawaiian creation chant that symbolizes an offspring journeying independently.

While most near-Earth asteroids originate from the primary asteroid belt situated between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, recent studies suggest that Kamo’oalewa likely originated from the Giordano Bruno crater located on the moon’s far side — the side facing away from Earth. This groundbreaking revelation was detailed in a study published on April 19 in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Lead study author Yifei Jiao, a visiting scholar at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and a doctoral student at Tsinghua University in Beijing, remarked on the significance of this discovery, highlighting that it marks the first time astronomers have linked a potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid to a lunar crater.

Erik Asphaug, a professor at the University of Arizona’s laboratory and coauthor of the study, expressed the surprise surrounding this revelation, noting its potential implications in bridging the gap between lunar samples collected by astronauts and lunar meteorites that have found their way to Earth.

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