A mysterious object from another solar system has been recorded flying through space.
Named Oumuamua by us Earthlings – the Hawaiian term for a messenger or scout – reports are opening for our cosmic neighbour visits. See below from The Guardian.
Source: The Guardian
Astronomers are now certain that the mysterious object detected hurtling past our sun last month is indeed from another solar system. They have named it 1I/2017 U1(’Oumuamua) and believe it could be one of 10,000 others lurking undetected in our cosmic neighbourhood.
The certainty of its interstellar origin comes from an analysis that shows its orbit is almost impossible to achieve from within our solar system.
Its name comes from a Hawaiian term for messenger or scout. Indeed, it is the first space rock to have been identified as forming around another star. Since asteroids coalesce during the process of planet formation, this object can tell us something about the formation of planets around its unknown parent star.
The latest analyses with ground-based telescopes show that ’Oumuamua is quite similar to some comets and asteroids in our own solar system. This is important because it suggests that planetary compositions like ours could be typical across the galaxy.