Astronomers have loose thefirst resultsfrom an in - depth report on the suspected interstellar object that flew into our Solar System last month – and the finding are fascinating .
The object is known as 1I/2017 U1 ( ` Oumuamua ) , a Hawaiian name that means “ reach out for ” ( ‘ ou ) and “ first , in progression of ” ( muamua ) . The missive “ I ” denotes that this is our first ever record interstellar visitor , confirmed by this study .
Published inNature , the solvent show that the object is a bizarre stretch material body , quantify 10 times as long as it is wide . Its distance is thought to be at least 400 meters ( 1,300 foot ) long . It spin on its axis once every 7.3 hour , with a large fluctuation in brightness revealing its leftover figure .
The observation also confirmed this object – now certain to be an asteroid rather than a comet , as it had no visible coma – was dark and ruby in color . This was the outcome of cosmic rays shoot it for the millions of class it has been go through space , irradiating its airfoil .
It also seems to be dense , meaning it is perhaps bumpy or has a high metal mental object , and lack any significant water system ice .
" What we found was a rapidly rotate object , at least the size of a football force field , that shift in cleverness quite dramatically , " Karen Meech from University of Hawaii ’s Institute for Astronomy ( IfA ) , the study ’s lead author , said in astatement . " This change in luminance hints that ` Oumuamua could be more than 10 times long than it is wide – something which has never been seen in our own Solar System . "
The object wasfirst spottedon October 19 , 2017 , by the Pan - STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii . It had made its journeying around the Sun and was heading out of the Solar System , so astronomers raced to get as much data as possible .
And wash they did . Using a mixture of observatories , include the European Southern Observatory ’s ( ESO ) powerful Very Large Telescope ( VLT ) in Chile , they were able to work out out its sizing , vividness , pattern , and more .
“ We had to act quickly , ” squad member Olivier Hainaut from ESO in Garching , Germany said in the statement . “ ` Oumuamua had already passed its secretive power point to the Sun and was heading back into interstellar distance . ”
Now , astronomers are carry on to take note the physical object in the hope of getting even more information , include where it came from . There have been some suggestions so far , include a adept clustering about200 light - years away , but we do n’t have it away for indisputable . If it ’s like asteroid in our Solar System , though , it could have been born in a worldwide system just like ours .
At least one interstellar object is mean to pass into our Solar System every year , but they ’re surd to spy , which is why this is the first . It ’s trust that coming telescopes like the orotund Synoptic Survey Telescope ( LSST ) could encounter more in the feature film .
And that , well , is just freak out awesome . A midget rock from another world-wide system made its way here , waved , and headed off to space . Farewell , interstellar traveler .
