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It turns out that & # 39; Oumuamua, our first known interstellar visitor, is a comet after all.
This cosmic object was discovered for the first time in 2017 by researchers of the panoramic telescope rapid response system (Pan-STARRS). Its strange, cigar-like shape, its lack of tail and coma, made categorization difficult – some even suggested that it could have an extraterrestrial life. It has so far been clbadified as a comet, clbadified as an asteroid, and even put in a new clbad "interstellar objects".
"Oumuamua, since its discovery, has been very difficult to study and understand for researchers because, since" it was actually a weak object … we had very little time to observe it. "Karen Meech, astronomer at the University of Hawaii -author on the new job, said Space.com. But now, in an article published today (June 27) in the journal Nature, researchers seem to have concluded that the mysterious interstellar body is a comet. Scientists still do not know where the dark red object of 2,624 feet (800 meters), but at least part of the mystery has been dispelled. [‘Oumuamua: The Solar System’s 1st Interstellar Visitor Explained in Photos]
Illustration of an artist of the interstellar object, Oumuamua, which appears to be material giving off gas. Scientists now suspect that it 's about a comet after all, and not an asteroid. Credit: ESA / Hubble, NASA, ESO, Mr. Kornmesser
Falling through our solar system, The movement and behavior of Oumuamua during this trip led the researchers to their conclusion. They found that the arc that Oumuamua has traveled can not be fully explained by the gravitational pull of the sun, planets and other objects of the solar system. Thus, as the researchers explained in the new document, part of the acceleration of the object is not caused by gravity.
Clbadifying the object as a comet explains its arc motion and its nonrecurring acceleration, as comets can be propelled by the gas they release.
There are other possible explanations for this acceleration, such as the magnetic interaction with the solar wind, the solar radiation pressure and the drag and friction forces. But the researchers have excluded them.
This leaves the remaining explanation that "Oumuamua is propelled partially by the gas, which would indicate that it is a comet.
Meech said that this study "definitely concludes" the mystery of what this object really is, while adding that "there is never a hundred per cent guarantee on anything".
These researchers "deduce that it is a comet based on all available evidence, but there is no other explanation," Meech said. She added that if they wanted concrete evidence that it was a comet, they would have needed to see "a trail of dust and gas, but this is not a problem. was simply not possible in this case.
This diagram shows the path of the interstellar object – Oumuamua as it flew through our solar system. & # 39; Oumuamua was discovered in 2017.
Credit: ESA
Yet, "Oumuamua is anything but a standard comet. It lacks a coma, which is the cloud of gas and dust that usually envelops the nucleus of a comet, and the researchers have not observed a clbadic comet tail. The object also has a remarkably unique appearance. So with the knowledge that they have, the researchers found that "Oumuamua must be a comet.
The main remaining mystery about "Oumuamua" is its origin. The researchers still do not know where the object comes from and, according to Meech, knowing that the object has a non-food movement will make it even more difficult to determine its source.
Email Chelsea Gohd to [email protected] or follow her @chelsea_gohd. follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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