Origins of Mysterious Interstellar Visitor Oumuamua May Finally Be Explained
AYLIN WOODWARD, BUSINESS INSIDER
17 MARCH 2021
The origin and identity of a massive space object that careened past Earth in 2017 have remained a mystery ever since.
The object, called Oumuamua – a Hawaiian name meaning scout or messenger – traveled on a trajectory that strongly suggested it came from another star system. That made it the first interstellar object ever detected.
But what was it? A few researchers, including Harvard University astronomer Avi Loeb, posited the object was an alien spacecraft. Others suggested it was an asteroid, or perhaps an interstellar comet.
Now, a pair of papers published in an American Geophysical Union journal offers another theory: that Oumuamua was shrapnel from a tiny planet in a different Solar System.
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Two crossed lines that form an X . It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification. An artist s impression shows interstellar object `Oumuamua as it passed through the solar system in October 2017. M. Kornmesser/European Southern Obervatory via Reuters
The object baffled scientists: Some think it s a comet, others have suggested an alien spaceship.
New research says Oumuamua is a piece of a Pluto-like planet from another solar system.
The origin and identity of a massive space object that careened past Earth in 2017 have remained a mystery ever since.
The object, called Oumuamua a Hawaiian name meaning scout or messenger traveled on a trajectory that strongly suggested it came from another star system. That made it the first interstellar object ever detected.
Oumuamua: It has been suggested the object is an alien probe from another system (Image: GETTY)
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New research has now been published by Arizona State University astrophysicists, which has also rejected the alien hypothesis.
Instead, Steven Desch and Alan Jackson of the School of Earth and Space Exploration have proposed Oumuamua is an icy chunk dislodged from a Pluto-like planet from another solar system.
Professor Desch said: In many ways Oumuamua resembled a comet, but it was peculiar enough in several ways that mystery surrounded its nature, and speculation ran rampant about what it was.
The pair analysed the comet hypothesis by highlighting Oumuamua s unusual characteristics.