The Interstellar object 'Oumuamua was first spotted in our solar system in October 2017 by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System 1 (Pan-STARRS1). Three years later, scientists may finally have some answers to its origin and to why it has an oddly cigar-shape and other idiosyncratic features.
How 'Oumuamua Got Its Shape
According to Gizmodo, a research that was recently published in Nature Astronomy, 'Oumuamua is a fragmented part of a parent body that might have strayed too close to its host star.
The research authors, Yun Zhang of the University of Côte d'Azur as well as Douglas Lin of the University of California, Santa Cruz, then believe that it is due to this process that the interstellar object acquired its odd shape and why it was thrown into interstellar space.
"A tidal encounter between a planet or small body and a star is a tug-of-war game between the gravitational pull of the star and the self-gravity of the flyby body," Zhang said, noting that when an object comes too close to a star and enters its tidal disruption region, the body will be stretch and torn apart.
'Oumuamua, which was named after a Hawaiian word meaning messenger or scout, is the first interstellar interloper that astronomers have seen.
Additionally, it's the first cosmic object that they know of so far that has the weirdly elongated shape like a "big space cigar," which might or might not be flattened as well.
Besides its shape, there are a few other odd things about 'Oumuamua.
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Is it a Comet?
For one, the cosmic object also displayed a "non-gravitational acceleration" while it was zooming through our solar system, meaning it has a movement that is not triggered by tugs of the sun or other planets' gravitational pull.
This movement is usually linked to cometary outgassing that pushes an object to a particular direction, much like how the thrusters of a spacecraft work, as per Space.com, which made astronomers believe it is likely a comet.
Nevertheless, 'Oumuamua has no visible tail or coma-like the usual comet.
But with the arrival of the new study from lead scientist Yun Zhang and his co-author, Douglas Lin, the interstellar visitor is now believed to be an "active asteroid" and that there are likely more objects like 'Oumuamua.
More Interstellar Objects like 'Oumuamua
"On average, each planetary system should eject in total about 100 trillion objects like 'Oumuamua," Zhang said.
Zhang and Lin were able to come up with the theory by creating various computer simulations of objects flying by strictly to their stars and how it affects them.
Based on their simulations, they found out that very close encounters rip the cosmic bodies apart into elongated forms and then eject them into interstellar space.
The research further indicates that the extreme heat from the flyby and then the cooling that follows after is the reason behind their surface crust, which maintains and supports their odd shape.
The research about interstellar objects like 'Oumuamua could provide clues to our scientists about how planetary systems are formed and how they evolve over time.
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