Earth's Pet Asteroid That Won't Commit

By Jenny Birce Category: Outer Space 11th August 2026

Alright, picture this: the planet's out there doing its gig, full of climate talks and airport delays, and we have a little rock that politely refuses to move out. It's called 2016 HO3 (sometimes nicknamed Kamo'oalewa), and it's not our moon, it's not a piece of space junk, it's a tiny quasi-satellite that orbits the Sun but spends centuries looping around Earth like a shy, loyal neighbour who brings you muffins on a Tuesday.

Discovered in 2016, this pebble-in-the-sky is only a few dozen metres across-estimates put it roughly between 40 and 100 metres-so it's not winning any planetary real estate awards. The weird bit is dynamical: HO3's path is locked in a resonant dance with Earth. From our point of view it appears to corkscrew around us, but in reality both Earth and HO3 orbit the Sun; the asteroid's orbital period is almost identical to Earth's, so it hangs around in an elongated halo. Astronomers call that a quasi-satellite state, and it means HO3 isn't gravitationally bound like the Moon, but it also won't sprint off into the void anytime soon.

Scientists reckon it's been our long-term tagalong for at least a century and will keep up the act for centuries more. Which honestly feels like watching someone casually decline commitment while rearranging your furniture with a smile. No dramatic capture, no tragic escape-just polite orbital coexistence. It's a neat reminder that 'being near' in space is a complicated relationship.

I love that space writes its own soap operas with rocks. On a practical level these objects are interesting because they offer low-energy opportunities for study: same neighborhood, less hassle than a trip to Mars, but with better views than the asteroid belt. Also, emotionally, this little quasi-satellite has the audacity to be reliable when humans are barely consistent about recycling. There's comfort in that, and also a cosmic joke: the universe keeps handing us companions that are far less complicated than our dating apps.

So next time I spiral about my to-do list, I think about 2016 HO3 orbiting like it's on a friend's couch indefinitely, and I promise myself to be at least as steady as a tiny rock for approximately one-third of a century. Which, honestly, is a very low bar and also oddly inspiring.