A close encounter with another star may have ripped the cigar-shaped interstellar visitor ‘Oumuamua from its parent body, flinging it toward our solar system.
— is still sparking debates more than two years after its discovery. And, most recently, the conversation has shifted to whether the cosmic visitor could be a fragment torn from a larger world.in Hawaii spotted an object moving at a breathtaking pace of 54 miles per second. But, unlike most comets and asteroids before it, ‘Oumuamua would only approach our sun once before continuing its journey through space.
If these astronomers are right, then we should expect to spot many more oddly shaped worlds like ‘Oumuamua in the coming years. But ‘Oumuamua left astronomers with more confusing hints about its nature and history. Instead of growing an icy tail, this alien space rock looked relatively dry. It also appeared surprisingly dense and rocky.
The authors say that you can imagine planetary bodies as sand castles floating in space. Much like children on the beach molding castles from many grains of sand, even modest worlds are built from many smaller pieces that are held together by gravity. She points out that ‘Oumuamua’s high-speed trip through the solar system was too quick for astronomers to get a detailed look at the object.
“I think it absolutely is a comet,” Meech says. “The nongravitational motion that our group detected was super strong, and there’s no other way to maintain it except for outgassing. There’s no other explanation.”
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