Scientists at the University of Arizona have discovered that asteroid 2016 HO3 was likely blasted into the solar system from the moon several million years ago.
2016 HO3 is considered a near-Earth asteroid with an elliptical orbit around the Earth. It is estimated to be about 150 feet to 190 feet in diameter and was first spotted in 2016. "You’d think the impact event would pulverize and distribute the ejecta far and wide," study co-author Erik Asphaug said in a press release."But there it is. So, we turned the problem around and asked ourselves, 'How can we make this happen?'"
"While most of that debris would have impacted the Earth as lunar meteorites over the course of less than a million years," lead study author Yifei Jiao said,"a few lucky objects can survive in heliocentric orbits as near-Earth asteroids, yet to be discovered or identified."