A new study from the University of California has offered a clearer suggestion about the origin of the mysterious interstellar object. Oumuamua, which passed Earth in 2017 and spawned several theories, such as that it would be an alien spacecraft. Shaped like a cigar, it exhibited non-gravitational acceleration, but lacked the visible tail of familiar comets. And so, it is discussed to this day.
jennifer Bergner, an astrochemist at the university where the study was conducted, developed an alternative view. According to their research published in the scientific journal natureThe composition of the celestial body may be more common than previously thought: an icy comet.
“Acceleration” with hydrogen
During its journey through space, under the influence of cosmic radiation, the object’s water molecules gradually separated into hydrogen and oxygen. The first element to be trapped in pockets by the composition of the amorphous water ice could have escaped as the object approached the Sun, “pushing” ‘Oumuamua in the opposite direction, resulting in the small jolt reported at its discovery.
This release of the elements is invisible from the perspective of the Earth. Thus, a possible explanation has arisen that the apparent cause of comets has not been found, since the processes are different.
“Given the information we have, I think this is our best hope to explain ‘Oumuamua without resorting to more sensational ideas,” Bergner told the website. Motherboard.
More interstellar objects should appear in the future
At the time of detection, the object was already leaving the solar system at high speed, which did not allow launching a mission to check it more thoroughly. Because of this, scientists can only study her through the analysis of similar interstellar objects or already known scientific mechanisms, as in the case of Jennifer.
Big help must come from the future Vera K. Rubin Observatoryis in Chile and which will be able to map the entire visible sky, due to open in 2024. According to astronomers, with this structure we will be able to locate at least one interstellar object per year. With this, human understanding of their behavior will improve and, who knows, we will receive the final answer from ‘Oumuamua through his “brothers”.
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