The asteroid, named Kamo'oalewa, which is often referred to as Earth's second moon due to its Earth-like orbit around the sun, is now the subject of a new study, according to the European Space Agency. Interesting geometry.
According to them, the celestial body was likely born as a result of a massive collision, although its exact origin has remained unknown despite research conducted since the 1960s.
The asteroid appears as a kind of missing link connecting the Moon to Earth in modeling conducted by researchers at the University of Arizona.
With the help of computer models, they investigated whether an impact 4 million years ago caused the formation of the asteroid, which also formed one of the newest craters on the Moon, Giordano Bruno Crater.
As a result of the impact, most of the debris fell back onto the Moon's surface, but some, including Kamualoa, escaped the Moon's gravitational influence and eventually drifted toward Earth.
Researchers believe that the asteroid has been wandering in space since then, until Earth's gravity captured it.
The timing of the discovery is interesting, as the upcoming Tianwen-2 mission may provide China with a new opportunity to investigate the asteroid's origins.
The mission will collect samples from the asteroid and return them to Earth for analysis. This may provide additional data about the asteroid's formation and evolution.
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