{"id":152446,"date":"2021-11-30T14:08:06","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T00:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=152446"},"modified":"2021-11-30T14:08:06","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T00:08:06","slug":"uh-discovered-asteroid-could-be-moon-chunk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2021\/11\/30\/uh-discovered-asteroid-could-be-moon-chunk\/","title":{"rendered":"<abbr>UH<\/abbr>-discovered asteroid could be a chunk of the Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_60134\"  width=\"620\" height=\"349\"  data-origwidth=\"620\" data-origheight=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0YvOy8JSaPk?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&rel=0&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"Kamo&#039;oalewa\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>A near-Earth asteroid about the size of a Ferris wheel first detected in 2016 by the University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ifa.hawaii.edu\/\">Institute for Astronomy<\/a> (<abbr>IfA<\/abbr>)-operated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ifa.hawaii.edu\/research\/Pan-STARRS.shtml\">Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System<\/a> (Pan-STARRS) may shed some light on the early Solar System. New data published in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s43247-021-00303-7\">Nature Communications Earth and Environment<\/a><\/em> indicates (469219) <span aria-label=\"Kamooalewa\">Kamo&#699;oalewa<\/span> could be a fragment of the Moon.<\/p>\n<p>According to the study, the infrared spectrum of the 165-foot long object appears to match that of material found on the lunar surface. To help determine its origin, China is preparing for a spacecraft launch in 2024 in an attempt to retrieve samples from the asteroid.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;To my knowledge, this is the most promising evidence to date of an asteroid actually being a remnant from a past lunar impact,&rdquo; said <abbr>IfA<\/abbr> Director <strong>Doug Simons<\/strong>. &ldquo;The best way to determine if it is of lunar origin is a sample-and-return mission, so precise chemical analyses can be made to compare material from <span aria-label=\"Kamooalewa\">Kamo&#699;oalewa<\/span> with material brought back to earth from past Apollo missions to the surface of the moon.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>More than just a name<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_99087\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-99087\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/hilo-imiloa-a-hua-he-inoa-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"students holding two signs\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-99087\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/hilo-imiloa-a-hua-he-inoa-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/hilo-imiloa-a-hua-he-inoa-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/hilo-imiloa-a-hua-he-inoa-630x353.jpg 630w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/hilo-imiloa-a-hua-he-inoa.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-99087\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hawaiian immersion students named two <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>-discovered asteroids during the groundbreaking A Hua He Inoa pilot project in 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This recent research has topped international and national headlines, such as leading astronomy publications and the <em>New York Times<\/em> where the asteroid\u2019s Hawaiian language name is widely utilized. The use of &#699;\u014dlelo <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> (Hawaiian language) on such a large scale is both uplifting and encouraging news for <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> Hilo <a href=\"https:\/\/imiloahawaii.org\/\">&#699;Imiloa Astronomy Center<\/a> Executive Director <strong><span aria-label=\"Kaiu\">Ka&#699;iu<\/span> Kimura<\/strong> who helped spearhead the naming of the <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>-discovered Near Earth Object through <a href=\"https:\/\/imiloahawaii.org\/a-hua-he-inoa\">A Hua He Inoa<\/a>, a program where Hawaiian speaking students and educators work with <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>-based astronomers to create names in &#699;\u014dlelo <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> for objects discovered by <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>-based observatories.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We were very encouraged to see the recent theory on <span aria-label=\"Kamooalewa\">Kamo&#699;oalewa<\/span>. The students who gave the name <span aria-label=\"Kamooalewa\">Kamo&#699;oalewa<\/span> put a lot of thought and energy into researching appropriate contexts,&rdquo; Kimura said. &ldquo;They did in fact consider that this object may have been a &lsquo;<span aria-label=\"moo\">mo&#699;o<\/span>&rsquo; or &lsquo;offspring&rsquo; that is orbiting in our solar system. It is amazing to now see scientific theory support their keen intuition.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Related <em><abbr>UH<\/abbr> News<\/em> story:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2019\/01\/08\/astronomical-discoveries-through-imiloa-program\/\">Hawaiian students learn, name astronomical discoveries through &#699;Imiloa program<\/a>, January, 8, 2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In &#699;\u014dlelo <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, <span aria-label=\"Kamooalewa\">Kamo&#699;oalewa<\/span> alludes to a celestial object that is oscillating, like its path in the sky as viewed from the Earth. It is a name found in the Hawaiian chant <em>Kumulipo<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>A Hua He Inoa is also behind the names of five other celestial discoveries, including the headline grabbing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2017\/11\/20\/an-interstellar-visitor-unmasked\/\">interstellar object &#699;Oumuamua<\/a>. The program is a collaborative effort between &#699;Imiloa, <abbr>IfA<\/abbr>, community members and <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olelo.hawaii.edu\/khuok\/\">Ka Haka &#699;Ula O <span aria-label=\"Keelikolani\">Ke&#699;elik&#333;lani<\/span> College of Hawaiian Language<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As I\u2019ve mentioned before, by naming major astronomical discoveries made from <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, A Hua He Inoa is helping give Maunakea and Haleakal\u0101 an international voice&#8212;it is only fitting that voice is Hawaiian,&rdquo; Simons explained.<\/p>\n<p><span aria-label=\"Kamooalewa\">Kamo&#699;oalewa<\/span> is about 4 million times fainter than the faintest star the human eye can see in a dark sky and never gets closer than 9 million miles to Earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The object was discovered by Pan-STARRS in 2016 and given a name by Hawaiian language students through &#699;Imiloa\u2019s A Hua He Inoa program. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[34,33,1057,292,35,316,36,14,56],"class_list":["post-152446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-astronomy","tag-hawaiian","tag-hawaiian-language","tag-imiloa-astronomy-center","tag-institute-for-astronomy","tag-ka-haka-ula-o-keelikolani","tag-pan-starrs","tag-uh-hilo","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152446"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152466,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152446\/revisions\/152466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}