The passage of & # 39; Oumuamua & # 39; by the solar system raises more questions than certainty

The scientific journal Nature returns to offer news of the astronomical object 1I / 2017 U1 . This is known in the specialized media, but to make it closer and easier to recognize, they also offer us a pronounceable name, without numbers: Oumuamua . In Hawaiian, it means "messenger who came first" and it's a comet that comes from far and outside our solar system. It's the assumption that wins everything after analyzing the data of its speed and trajectory.

A strange object visits our solar system and lets go

The recent article Nature publicly searchable and not only in the paper publication, it is headed by Marco Micheli of the European Space Agency (ESA), accompanied by 16 other scientists.

After analyzing the data collected by different observatories, this group of researchers undertook to identify Oumuamua with a comet and not an asteroid [VIDEO]. Interestingly, it is the name that he received, when it was discovered on October 19, 2017.

Every day, various mills scan our environment, following the orbits of many comets and asteroids. Until now, all known seem to have their origin in our own solar system. They follow defined orbits and their sizes are very different.

Everything changes last year, when a strange object, about 400 m long, enters a hyperbolic orbit near the sun. Something like that could only mean that we were in the presence of an object that came from outside our system .

Early estimates bet on a two-star system (binary) or star Vega.

We first talked about a comet, but the characteristic "tail" of gases and dust that accompanied them was not observed. He went on to define it as an asteroid, with a surface hardened by a journey of millions of years, probably composed of rock and metal.

But something happened when he approached the Sun. those who predicted the scientific models. Something had contributed to an extra speed and had diverted the way. What could it be?

A mystery that begins to be clarified

Micheli and his companions bet to name, once again, Oumuamua as a comet . This is the only way to explain the road change and the extra acceleration when leaving the solar system.

A comet is composed of rocks and ice. When approaching a star, the ice evaporates and forms a tail of gas and dust. Indeed, this tail is not observed in our protagonist.

However, it could be very thin or be formed only by gas. As you approach the sun, the gases are released and move the comet away from the heat source. This is why the trajectory and speed of departure would be changed when leaving us.

A unique opportunity that will continue to ask questions

For now this is the strongest hypothesis. Oumuamua would be a curious comet with no visible tail, with millions of years of travel, with a dark red surface, polished by the elements of space, with a curious elliptical orbit (by compared to us, which we observe) and distantly originated from our planetary system.

Its close passage was followed by different observatories, without giving time to an approach with some satellite [VIDEO]. Maybe next time we can launch one and learn about our distant neighbors, taking advantage of an opportunity that, perhaps, will not be repeated in millions of years.