An Earth-Orbiting Asteroid May Actually Be a Fragment of the Moon

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00:00This is what experts say the Kamo'o Aleba asteroid, one that was discovered in 2016, looks like.

00:09It's a bit odd, because instead of orbiting the sun, this one orbits the Earth.

00:13And while its orbit changes over time, it remains a near-Earth asteroid.

00:17Now, years later, scientists say that might be because the asteroid could actually be a giant chunk of the moon.

00:22Recent observations have concluded that the space rock reflects light just like the lunar surface does,

00:27meaning it might be made of the same silicates.

00:29Astronomers have also discovered that unlike other near-Earth objects of its kind,

00:33it remains in its particular orbital type, while others transition back and forth,

00:37which they deduce means it's likely a large piece of the moon,

00:40a fragment of debris that was ejected after a meteoroid impacted the lunar surface.

00:44Now, they've conducted experiments using computer simulations of that impact,

00:48finding that while most ejecta from such an impact sends debris into solar orbits,

00:52a few of those simulations have the ejecta taking up Earth-centered ones,

00:56ones that look strikingly similar to that of Kamo'o Aleva.

01:00The researchers say the next step might involve looking at the surface of the moon,

01:03mapping out each and every crater,

01:05looking for a chunk that might resemble this Earth-orbiting asteroid.