Not here for long

Kamo’oalewa won’t stick around all that long, as its current trajectory is not entirely stable. According to estimates from Sharkey (researcher) and others, the object will remain an earthly companion for only about 300 more years - nothing at all on the cosmic clock - after which it will break free of its current gravitational chains and twirl off into the void.

Originally a part of the moon, then a companion of Earth, it will spend the rest of its long life traveling on its own.

And according to a new study in Nature, we may at last know how it was formed.

The moon’s been getting bombarded by space rocks for billions of years, resulting in all manner of lunar debris getting ejected into space (nearly ...