Oumuamua, First Known Interstellar Object (2017)
Oumuamua, the interstellar object that penetrated the solar system and was first noted in October 2017, is coated in a thick insulating layer of organic-rich material, according to a paper published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
The paper, written by a team headed by astrophysicist Alan Fitzsimmons from Queens University Belfast in the UK, challenges the assumption – made by NASA scientists in November – that the object comprises rock and possibly metal, with no water or ice component.
Using observations from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories, an international team of scientists have confirmed ′Oumuamua (oh-MOO-ah-MOO-ah), the first known interstellar object to travel through our solar system, got an unexpected boost in speed and shift in trajectory as it passed through the inner solar system last year.
After ʻOumuamua – formally known as 1I/2017 U1 – was discovered, Fitzsimmons’ team used two facilities to conduct a spectroscopic analysis of the object. Readings were taken using the 4.2m William Herschel Telescope (WHT) on La Palma, and the European Southern Observatory 8.2m Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile.
The results came up negative for tell-tale mineral traces and data revealed that the composition of ʻOumuamua was quite similar to a class of asteroids known as D-types.
A mysterious cigar-shaped object spotted
tumbling through our solar system last year may have been an alien spacecraft
sent to investigate Earth, astronomers from Harvard University have suggested.
19 jul. 2018
