Interstellar object confirmed to be from another solar system
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 extraterrestrial origin comes from an analysis that shows its orbit is almost impossible to achieve from within our Solar System.
Its name comes from the 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 therefore 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.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/across-the-universe/2017/nov/20/interstellar-object-confirmed-to-be-from-another-solar-system?CMP=share_btn_tw
= new reply since forum marked as read
But the republicans would not listen to common sense or reason. As usual.
cool
1I/2017 U1
The 1I means it is the first of class of astronomic objects, "Interstellar" being the designation and '1' being the first serial number. "2017 U1" identifies the date of discovery. "U1" means first discovery in the second half of October.
I love the name Oumuamua. BTW, the IAU broke all records for naming this quickly. Good for them.
