Astronomers say the spectrum data fits the bill.
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00:00Right now there's an asteroid following Mars. It's named 101429 1998 VF31 and
00:09it's called a Trojan asteroid because of the way it follows Mars, caught in a
00:12gravitational equilibrium 60 degrees with Mars and the Sun. But while most
00:16trailing asteroids tend to be made from whatever planet they're tagging along
00:20behind, scientists now believe this one could have once been the moon's twin.
00:23Astronomers from the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium in Northern Ireland
00:27found that 101429 isn't like the other asteroids in its cluster. Using a device
00:32that provides high-resolution spectrum data and the Very Large Telescope in
00:36Chile, they discovered 101429 had a completely different readout than the
00:40others, but one not entirely foreign. Galen Borisov, Armagh Observatory and
00:44Planetarium astrochemist said about the findings,
00:47the spectrum of this particular asteroid seems to be almost a dead ringer for
00:50parts of the moon where there is exposed bedrock such as crater interiors and
00:54mountains. But the astronomers say there could be other explanations. For instance
00:57solar radiation could have changed the fragment through cosmic weathering,
01:00which is why the astronomers are now looking to get even better spectra data
01:04from both Mars and the moon for comparison.