Jakarta –
Astronomers are finding more evidence that asteroid near Earth is a chunk of the Moon that was ejected.
Asteroid Kamo’oalewaderived from Hawaiian for oscillating fragment, is a chunk of rock that orbits within 14.4 million kilometers of Earth every April.
Since the discovery of the object in 2016, scientists have remained confused about the origin of the strange rock, and they were shocked when analysis in 2021 revealed that Kamo’oalewa’s composition was similar to that of the Moon.
Now, a new study published Oct. 23 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, sheds light on possible ancient asteroid impacts that could have pushed space rocks onto their current trajectories and suggests that there may be more chunks of the Moon floating around the Solar System.
“We have now established that the Moon is the most likely source of Kamo’oalewa,” said lead author Renu Malhotra, a planetary scientist at Arizona University as quoted by Live Science.
Keanehan Kamo’oalewa
Two unusual orbital properties attracted astronomers to investigate astroid Kamo’oalewa. First, as a ‘quasi-satellite’ of Earth, it is so close to our planet that it appears to orbit it, even though its actual orbital partner is the Sun.
Second, the asteroid is expected to stick closely to the side of Earth for millions of years, whereas many near-Earth objects only last for a few decades.
This anomaly prompted astronomers to conduct a spectrum analysis of the asteroid in 2021. They found that the light emitted and absorbed by Kamo’oalewa indicated that the asteroid was most likely made of lunar rock.
“We saw Kamo’oalewa’s spectrum only because it is in an unusual orbit. If it had been a near-Earth asteroid, no one would have thought to find its spectrum and we would not have known that Kamo’oalewa might be a fragment of the Moon,” Malhotra said.
By simulating an asteroid impact on the Moon and the gravitational forces that would be exerted on the chunks, the researchers found there was a small chance that some of the rocks would end up in near-Earth orbit.
Before doing the calculations, astronomers estimated that most of the launched lunar material would land back on the Moon or rain down on Earth, and not end up in distant orbit around the Sun.
The researchers say their findings may give them a better understanding of Dangerous asteroid near Earth. Their next step is to find out the conditions that might have pushed the rock into its orbit and find out exactly when the impact occurred.
Watch the Video “NASA Will Announce Update on Asteroid Bennu Samples”
(rns/agt)
2023-10-29 15:15:53
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