Lunar-like silicate material forms the Earth quasisatellite (469219) 2016 HO3 Kamo`oalewa

Abstract

Little is known about Earth quasi-satellites, a class of near-Earth small solar system bodies that orbit the sun but remain close to the Earth, because they are faint and difficult to observe. Here we use the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) and the Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT) to conduct a comprehensive physical characterization of quasi-satellite (469219) Kamo`oalewa and assess its affinity with other groups of near-Earth objects. We find that (469219) Kamo`oalewa rotates with a period of 28.3 (+1.8/-1.3) minutes and displays a reddened reflectance spectrum from 0.4-2.2 microns. This spectrum is indicative of a silicate-based composition, but with reddening beyond what is typically seen amongst asteroids in the inner solar system. We compare the spectrum to those of several material analogs and conclude that the best match is with lunar-like silicates. This interpretation implies extensive space weathering and raises the prospect that Kamo`oalewa could comprise lunar material.

arXiv commentPublished in Nature Communications Earth and Environment

References in corpus (15)

• Astropy: A Community Python Package for Astronomy
• The Astropy Project: Building an inclusive, open-science project and status of the v2.0 core package
• Compositional distributions and evolutionary processes for the near-Earth object population: Results from the MIT-Hawaii Near-Earth Object Spectroscopic Survey (MITHNEOS
• Techniques and Review of Absolute Flux Calibration from the Ultraviolet to the Mid-Infrared
• Phase reddening on near-Earth asteroids: Implications for mineralogical analysis, space weathering and taxonomic classification
• Asteroid (469219) 2016 HO3, the smallest and closest Earth quasi-satellite
• Short-term variability of a sample of 29 trans-Neptunian objects and Centaurs
• Asymmetric impacts of near-Earth asteroids on the Moon
• The Mission Accessible Near-Earth Objects Survey (MANOS): first photometric results
• Establishing Earth's Minimoon Population through Characterization of Asteroid 2020 CD${}_3$
• Critical spin periods of sub-km-sized cohesive rubble-pile asteroids: dependencies on material parameters
• The Mission Accessible Near-Earth Objects Survey: Four years of photometry
• Flame: A Flexible Data Reduction Pipeline for Near-Infrared and Optical Spectroscopy
• Using Mars co-orbitals to estimate the importance of rotation-induced YORP break-up events in Earth co-orbital space
• Search for L5 Earth Trojans with DECam

Cited by in corpus (13)

• Asteroid Kamo`oalewa's journey from the lunar Giordano Bruno crater to Earth 1:1 resonance
• Lunar ejecta origin of near-Earth asteroid Kamo`oalewa is compatible with rare orbital pathways
• Mini-moons from horseshoes: A physical characterization of 2022 NX1 with OSIRIS at the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias
• Astrometry, orbit determination, and thermal inertia of the Tianwen-2 target asteroid (469219) Kamo`oalewa
• The Sensitivity to initial conditions of the Co-orbital outcomes of Lunar Ejecta
• Basaltic quasi-mini-moon: Characterizing 2024 PT5 with the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias and the Two-meter Twin Telescope
• Dynamical Origin of (469219) Kamo`oalewa of Tianwen-2 Mission from the Main-Belt: ${\nu }_6$ Secular Resonance, Flora Family or 3:1 Resonance with Jupiter
• Multi-epoch spectro-photometric characterization of the minimoon 2024 PT${}_5$ in the visible and near-infrared
• The Detectability of Lunar-Origin Asteroids in the LSST Era
• Shape and spin axis determination of the Tianwen-2 target asteroid (469219) Kamo'oalewa from lightcurve inversion
• Composition and Space Weathering Characteristics of Tianwen-2 Mission's First Target Near-Earth Asteroid (469219) Kamo`oalewa
• When the horseshoe fits: Characterizing 2023 FY3 with the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias and the Two-meter Twin Telescope
• The steady-state population of Earth's co-orbitals of lunar provenance