2024 PT5 is the second near-Earth asteroid scientists suspect was ejected from the moon's surface, the first being 469219 Kamo'oalewa, which a different team of scientists have traced to an old impact crater on the far side of the moon.

Last year, astronomers on the hunt for potentially dangerous near-Earth asteroids spotted something unusual. A space rock, now dubbed 2024 PT5 made several close passes by Earth, not quite orbiting our planet,