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Space

Birthplace of red asteroid Kamo‘oalewa pinned to specific moon crater

The redness of asteroid 469219 Kamo‘oalewa marks it out as probably originating on the moon, and now we might know the exact impact crater it was launched from

By Alex Wilkins

25 April 2024

The Giordano Bruno crater on the moon, where asteroid Kamo‘oalewa could have originated

The Giordano Bruno crater on the moon, where asteroid Kamo‘oalewa could have originated

Universal Images Group/Getty Images

We may have located the exact birthplace of a strange asteroid that seems to have originated on the moon.

In 2021, astronomers noticed that asteroid 469219 Kamo‘oalewa, which orbits the sun on the same trajectory as Earth, looked unusual. The light bouncing off it appeared strangely red, marking it apart from the thousands of other near-Earth asteroids we know about.

One of the…

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