Earth has a ‘second Moon’ as scientists identify giant lunar crater where it once lay – and there may be others too
AN asteroid is believed to have broken off the moon and scientists have found additional proof that it could have been possible.
Scientists discovered a giant crater on the moon and believe this is where asteroid Kamo’oalewa could have originally come from dubbing it a second moon.
Kamo’oalewa was discovered in 2016 after a group of scientists from around the world came together in an international effort to research asteroids that could be a hazard to Earth.
In 2021, the structure of Kamo’oalewa was then found to be similar to moon rocks and made scientists start to wonder how.
This led researchers to deep dive into the asteroid to find out more about its origin.
The crater on the moon as Kamo’oalewa’s origin spot was suggested in a paper published in the journal of Nature Astronomy on Friday.
The researchers believe the asteroid came from Giordano Bruno crater which is about a few million years old.
“We have explored the processes for impact-induced lunar fragments migrating into Earth co-orbital space,” the paper said.
“And presented support for Kamo’oalewa’s possible origin from the formation of the Giordano Bruno crater a few million years ago.”
The crater proves that there must be an asteroid somewhere that had come from the moon.
“This would directly link a specific asteroid in space to its source crater on the Moon,” the paper added.
There may also be other similar asteroids that have broken off from the moon.
“And suggests the existence of more small asteroids composed of lunar material yet to be discovered in near-Earth space,” the paper added.
Their findings in the study along with other studies on its overall structure led them to conclude that Kamo’oalewa did once come from the moon.
UNIQUE ASTEROID
Kamo’oalewa is a unique asteroid because it circles around the sun in a similar way that Earth does.
Its orbit is actually synchronized with each which also makes it look like it’s orbiting Earth like a moon.
Kamo’oalewa is also very moon-like in the way that it reflects light from the sun and the color that it holds.
What's the difference between an asteroid, meteor and comet?
Here's what you need to know, according to Nasa...
- Asteroid: An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun. Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but they can be found anywhere (including in a path that can impact Earth)
- Meteoroid: When two asteroids hit each other, the small chunks that break off are called meteoroids
- Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it begins to vapourise and then becomes a meteor. On Earth, it’ll look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning up
- Meteorite: If a meteoroid doesn’t vapourise completely and survives the trip through Earth’s atmosphere, it can land on the Earth. At that point, it becomes a meteorite
- Comet: Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun. However rather than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains lots of ice and gas, which can result in amazing tails forming behind them (thanks to the ice and dust vaporizing)
Other asteroids that are close to Earth are much different than Kamo’oalewa which has added to its mystery.
Kamo’oalewa and the Giordano Bruno crater are both considered younger in age as both are somewhere around 10-100 million years old.
Most of the moon’s craters are much older than this and asteroids don’t usually stay close to Earth for more than 100 million years.
“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,” the paper said.
“And indeed, Giordano Bruno is the only possible source crater satisfying the criterion.”