A visitor from far away was spotted inside our solar system in 2017, carrying the mystery of its origins and inspiring some people to hope that perhaps it is an interstellar craft. The object was first detected in October, by researchers using the Pan-STARRS1 telescope in Hawaii. The scientists noticed the object was traveling on a path that would bring it outside of our solar system, even though it didn’t pass close enough to any other sizeable objects that could fling it out of the solar system with their gravity. This suggests that it also originated outside the solar system and is simply passing through. (Objects inside the solar system are generally kept inside it by the sun’s gravity.)
By December, astronomers announced the object (now called ‘Oumuamua) was likely a comet in disguise . A study in the journal Nature announced that ‘Oumuamua was surrounded by a carbon-rich crust that likely protected its more delicate, icy insides from the heat of the sun. A separate paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters found that ‘Oumuamua is very similar to icy objects in the outer solar system, judging by its color. Meanwhile, the Breakthrough Listen project monitored ‘Oumuamua in several radio frequencies and didn’t hear any signals — so if this object really is an alien craft, it’s flying in stealth mode.
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