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Laurel Kornfeld
July 3, 2018
This illustration shows "Oumuamua race to the outskirts of our solar system. As the complex rotation of the object makes it difficult to determine the exact shape, there are many models of what it might look like.
Credit: NASA / ESA / STScI
Scientists Watching the Way to "Oumuamua," the first known interstellar object to cross the solar system, discovered that he was traveling ] faster than expected, which led them to conclude that it was actually a comet that was accelerated by degassing
. When 'Oumuamua was first seen last fall, scientists were unsure as to whether it was an asteroid or comet. Based on its trajectory through the solar system, they determined that it was an interstellar visitor.
An international team of researchers observing "Oumuamua using the space telescope Hubble ( HST ) and several ground-based telescopes, including the telescope Canada-France -Hawaii in Hawaii, the southern telescope Gemini in Chile and the European Southern Observatory ( ESO ) Very Large Telescope ( VLT ), also in Chile, were surprised to see him increase his speed and change his trajectory when they last observed him. early January. They found that its speed was increased by 40,000 km compared to what it would have been if the Oumuamua were only affected by gravitational forces.
"Our high-precision measurements of the position of Oumuamua revealed that there was something affecting its movement that the gravitational forces of the Sun and the planets," says Marco Micheli of the # European Space Agency ( ESA ) Center for the Coordination of Earth Observations near Earth [19659007
Davide Farnocchia, Center for Earth Observation Studies of Land Objects ( CNEOS ) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory ( JPL ) Pasadena, Calif., Acknowledged that the increased speed of Oumuamua and its altered trajectory were compatible with the actions of comets that eject gas and dust as the Sun approaches, and these jets of ejected material increase the speed of comets by giving them a slight boost.
Gas and dust ejected from a comet to the following e of a solar heater form a cloud or coma in front of the comet and a tail trailing behind it. No coma or tail was observed with 'Oumuamua', so the scientists did not know that he was clearing.
The fact that scientists do not see any sign of degassing is probably due to the fact that & # 39; Oumuamua ejects only a small amount of dust particles or gives Coarse dust grains are not bright enough that Hubble can detect them
Even degassing a small amount of particles of Dust is likely to increase the speed of Oumuamua
Oumuamua may have small grains of dust typical of comets on its surface. With time, traveling from its star system through interstellar space, these dust grains have probably eroded.
"The more we study" Oumuamua, the more exciting it becomes.I am amazed at all that we have learned from a short and intense observational campaign.I can hardly wait for the next interstellar object! "said Karen Meech of Institute for Astronomy
of
Now emerging from the solar system at about 70,000 miles (114,000 km) per hour, "Oumuamua has passed the orbit of Jupiter in the direction of the outer solar system and can no longer be observed by Hubble .
An article on the discoveries of scientists has been published in the journal Nature .
Courtesy of the video: NASA
] [19659049] Tagged: Oumuamua Asteroid Comet Hubble Space Telescope
Laurel Kornfeld
Laurel Kornfeld is an amateur astronomer and freelance writer from Highland Park, New Jersey, who loves writing about astronomy and planetary science. She studied journalism at Douglass College of Rutgers University and obtained a postgraduate certificate in Science from the Astronomy Online program at the University of Swinburne. His writings have been published online in The Atlantic, the guest blog section of Astronomy magazine, the British Space Conference, the Journal of the General Assembly of IAU in 2009, The Space Reporter and newsletters Information from various astronomy clubs. She is a member of the amateur astronomer team based in Cranford, NJ. She is particularly interested in the external solar system and made a short presentation at Great Planet Debate 2008 at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. 19659052]
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