469219 Kamoʻoalewa
Kamoʻoalewa imaged by the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope on 28 April 2016 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Pan-STARRS |
| Discovery site | Haleakala Observatory |
| Discovery date | 27 April 2016 |
| Designations | |
| (469219) 2016 HO3 | |
| Pronunciation | /kəˌmoʊʔoʊəˈlɛvə/ Hawaiian: [kəˈmoʔowəˈlɛvə] |
Named after | Ka moʻo a lewa ("the oscillating fragment") |
| 2016 HO3 | |
| |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 2024-Mar-31 (JD 2460400.5) | |
| Uncertainty parameter 0 | |
| Observation arc | 20.00 yr (7,306 d) |
| Aphelion | 1.10373 AU |
| Perihelion | 0.89816 AU |
| 1.00094 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.10269 (964 wrt Earth) |
| 1.0014 yr (365.77 d) | |
| 175.153° | |
| 0° 59m 3.192s / day | |
| Inclination | 7.79605° |
| 65.7907° | |
| 305.0478° | |
| Earth MOID | 0.0311 AU (12.1 LD) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| |
| 0.467±0.008 h | |
| 0.20 (assumed) | |
| S (assumed) | |
| |
469219 Kamoʻoalewa (/kəˌmoʊʔoʊəˈlɛvə/) (provisional designation 2016 HO3) is a very small Apollo-type near-Earth asteroid approximately 40–100 meters (130–330 feet) in diameter. It is an elongated object that rapidly rotates every 28 minutes. At present it is a quasi-satellite of Earth, and currently the second-smallest, closest, and most stable known such quasi-satellite (after 2023 FW13).
Kamoʻoalewa was discovered by Pan-STARRS at Haleakala Observatory on 27 April 2016. It is the target of the China National Space Administration's Tianwen-2 mission, which is scheduled to visit the asteroid sometime in July 2026. Tianwen-2 will retrieve samples from the surface of Kamoʻoalewa and is planned to return them to Earth in 2027.
The object's Earth-like orbit, proximity to the Earth–Moon system, higher spectral reddening relative to other asteroids, and similarity to space weathered lunar materials indicate that it is likely lunar ejecta. However, it might also be an S-type or L-type asteroid. Despite being most similar to weathered Apollo 14 and Luna 24 Lunar Mare soils, it is suggested to be from the lunar far-side highland crust crater, Giordano Bruno.
Orbital similarities suggest it is likely a co-orbital pair with 2000 WN10 or a broken up set including the other NEOs 2020 KZ2, 2020 PN1, and 2020 PP1.