Technology and science
July 15, 2023 at 05:58 pm
Photo: ESO | Where did the interstellar object Oumuamua fly into the solar system: scientists know the answer
Most likely, Oumuamua came to us from a star system that is rich in heavy elements.
Scientists believe that it is possible to find out the place of origin of interstellar objects such as ‘Oumuamua, as well as what they are made of, using the speed with which they arrive in the solar system. Space.
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To date, scientists have discovered two confirmed interstellar objects, although several more such objects are also considered interstellar, but disputes continue around them. So, the huge stone Oumuamua and comet 2I / Borisov are recognized as two different objects that definitely flew into the solar system from another star system.
Matthew Hopkins from the University of Oxford, UK, believes that you can find out about the place of their origin due to the speed of their movement. And you can learn about the composition of these objects due to the fact that all these elements are in a distant star system, in particular, as part of another star.
The authors of the new study believe that there are actually a lot of interstellar objects in the solar system, they are just far from us and we have not yet been able to find them. Most likely, these objects collided with a planet the size of Jupiter and this led to their ejection from their native system. Or it was influenced by the gravity of another star passing by.
Each star moves in the Milky Way at its own speed and often these stars have a similar chemical composition, because they appeared in the same place. Stars such as the Sun, which have the heaviest chemical elements in their composition, revolve around the center of the galaxy in the so-called thin galactic disk. It is about 400 light years thick. Surrounding this disk is the so-called thick galactic disk, 1000 light-years thick, and here are older stars with fewer heavy chemical elements.
Most likely, Oumuamua came to us from a star system that is rich in heavy elements.
Photo: Forbes
The stars in these disks have different speeds. Scientists believe that interstellar objects also pick up the same speed before entering our solar system. The lower the relative speed of an interstellar object compared to the speed of the Sun, the more likely it is to enter the solar system, Hopkins said.
The scientist believes that thanks to this speed of movement, it is possible to determine from which system interstellar objects arrive. Most likely, an object like ‘Oumuamua, which has a lower speed than the Sun, came from a system similar to ours, which is rich in heavy chemical elements, Hopkins said.
But only more modern telescopes, which are only in the process of being built, will help to identify more interstellar objects in our solar system. And in this way, by studying them, it will be possible to more accurately determine from which region of space they flew in, Hopkins says.
Focus already wrote that some scientists have suggested that ‘Oumuamua is a comet without a characteristic cometary tail. But scientist Avi Loeb, who believes this object was created by aliens, rejects this theory and gives his own explanations.
There is also ongoing controversy surrounding the debris of another alleged interstellar object that has fallen to Earth. The fact is that the same Avi Loeb recently stated that these fragments may belong to an object artificially created by aliens. This theory is rejected by other researchers, as already wrote Focus.
