Oumuanua Suddenly Showed Up Again and Is Now Heading Towards The Earth ! - Chapter 2

Oumuanua Suddenly Showed Up Again and Is Now Heading Towards The Earth! - Chapter 2

Ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the our blog site; De Science Discovery. Today, we shall continue on a fascinating journey that we embarked on last week into the depth of space to unravel the mysterious tale of oumuamua. Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object that visited our solar system, has intrigued scientists worldwide. In this educational article, we will explore Its peculiar characteristics, the theories surrounding its origin, and the impact it has had on our understanding of the universe. Get ready to expand your knowledge and immerse yourself in the wonders of the cosmos. Let’s begin!

Mysteries surrounding oumuamua origin and composition

Scientist concludes that interstellar object ‘oumuamua must be very elongated because of its dramatic variations in brightness as it tumbled through space. They also conclude that vents on the surface must have emitted jets of gases, giving the object a slight boost in speed, which researchers detected by measuring the position of the objects as it PASSED BY IN 2017.

It came from outside the solar system

Because of its high speed (196000mph) and the trajectory it followed as it whipped around the sun, scientists are confident ‘oumuamua originated beyond our solar system. The object flew by earth so fast its speed couldn’t be due to the influence of the suns gravity alone, so it must have approached the solar system at an already high speed and not interacted with any other planets. On its journey past our star, the object came within a quarter of the distance between the sun and the earth

It doesn’t look like a comet, but it behaves like one

At first, scientist assumed ‘oumuamua was a comet. But because ‘oumuamua appears in telescope images as a single point of light without a coma, scientist then concluded it was an asteroid. But when astronomers saw the object was accelerating ever so slightly, they realized that a coma and jets might not be visible to the telescope used to observe it. The jetting of volatile materials or “outgassing” would explain why ‘oumuamua was accelerating in a subtle, unexpected way when only gravity from our solar system is taken in account.

Perhaps, it’s elongated

While it is impossible to take a close –up photo of ‘oumuamua, its dramatic variations in brightness over time suggest it is highly elongated. By calculating what kind of object could dim and brighten in this way, scientists realized the object must be up to 10 times as long as it is wide. Currently, ’oumuamua is estimated to be about half a mile (800 feet’s) long. Astronomers had never seen a natural object with such extreme proportion in the solar system before.

Where did it come from?

‘Oumuamua came into our solar system from another star system in the galaxy, but which one? Scientists observe that its incoming speed was close to the average motion of stars near own, and since the speed of younger stars is more stable than older stars, ‘oumuamua may have come from a relatively young system. But this is still a guess—it is possible the object has been wandering around the galaxy for billions of years.

Compositional analysis

Recent spectroscopic analysis has shed light on oumuamua composition. Surprisingly, it lacks a visible coma, ruling out the possibility of it being a typical comet. Instead, it is believe to be a dense, rocky or metallic body.

It tumbles through space

The unusual brightness variations also suggest the object does not rotate around just one axis. Instead, it is tumbling -- not just end over end, but about a second axis at a different period, too. A small object's rotation state can easily change, especially if it is outgassing, so this tumbling behavior could have started recently. The object appears to make a complete rotation every 7.3 hours.

‘Oumuamua’s origin and composition continue to be a scientific puzzle, pushing the boundaries of our understanding. While we may not have all the answers yet, the pursuit of knowledge and exploration remain at the heart of scientific discovery. Stay curious, and keep exploring the cosmos with us.

                                                             To be continued...

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