WAS IT ALIEN space junk? A wandering interstellar asteroid? Or a weird comet from another sun? Ever since 2017, when astronomers in Hawaii discovered an object, they called Oumuamua (Hawaiian for 'scout') zipping through the solar system, they have been arguing about what it was.
Telescopes saw only a tumbling dot that was already on its way back out into the interstellar dark. Astronomers deduced that it was reddish, cigar- or pancake-shaped, and perhaps a few hundred meters long. To date, all the comets observed in our solar system have ranged from around a half-mile to hundreds of miles across (Halley's comet is about seven miles wide).
Initially, Oumuamua was pegged as an asteroid, as it exhibited none of the sizzle and flash typical of comets. (Comets are basically dirty snowballs; when warmed by sunlight, they emit jets of steam, carbon dioxide, and dust, which create bright tails or comas.) There was no evidence of gas or dust around the object, and radio telescopes heard nothing when pointed at it.
But further analysis revealed that something was making Oumuamua speed up as it exited the solar system, leaving scientists with a delicious puzzle.
This story is from the April 02, 2023 edition of Financial Express Mumbai.
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This story is from the April 02, 2023 edition of Financial Express Mumbai.
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