Find an asteroid that has entered the Solar System

2017/11/21 Agirre Ruiz de Arkaute, Aitziber - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

For the first time in the history of astronomy they have found an asteroid that has entered the solar system. The other comets and asteroids that have so far been found in our country were created in the Solar System itself, but the new asteroid Oumuamua has been born out; it has travelled millions of years traveling through space before unexpected in the Solar System.

The Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii detected it last October. It was a small light that crossed the sky, but with a very variable brightness. This exceptional feature shows that the object is very elongated. It has a length of 400 meters and rotates around its axis every 7.3 hours. The researchers have claimed that Oumuamua has already passed through its closest point to the Sun and is heading towards interstellar space.

The discovery has been published in the journal Nature and has calculated that every year an interstellar asteroid like the Oumuame crosses the solar system. However, their signal is weak and difficult to detect and so far they have not been able to identify. They expect the new Pan-STARRS tracking telescopes to help them find them.