Astronomers for the first time are exploring an asteroid that has come to the solar system from interstellar space. Observations on the ESO Very Large Telescope in Chile and other observatories of the world show that this unique object traveled in space for millions of years before accidentally flying into our planetary system. It turned out to be a dark red, highly elongated metal or stone body, unlike anything normally found in the solar system. New results are published in the journal Nature
To accurately measure the orbital parameters, the brightness and color of the asteroid, the Very Large ESO Telescope was immediately activated. Time was very expensive: `Oumuamua quickly moves away from the Sun and from the Earth and becomes weaker and weaker. But there were surprises ahead.
Combining the images of the asteroid received on the VLT with the FORS receiver in four different filters, with images obtained from other large telescopes, a group of astronomers led by Karen Meech of the Institute of Astronomy in Hawaii, USA, discovered that `Oumuamua changes its brightness ten times, revolving around its axis with a period of 7.3 hours.
Karen Meech explains the significance of this discovery: "Unusually large changes in gloss mean that the object has a very elongated shape: its length is about ten times wider than the width, with complex, curved outlines. We also established that the color of this body is dark red, like that of objects in the outer regions of the solar system, and confirmed the complete absence of any activity, without finding the slightest trace of dust around it. "
All this suggests that Oumuamua is a dense, perhaps stone or even a metal body, without any signs of water or ice, and that its surface has darkened and blushed under the influence of cosmic rays for millions of years. Its length is estimated at a minimum of 400 meters.
Preliminary calculations of the asteroid's orbit have shown that it came approximately from the side of the bright star of Vega in the northern constellation of Lyra. However, even at a dizzying speed of about 90,000 km / h, the interstellar object took so much time to fly to the solar system that if about 300,000 years ago the asteroid was where Vega is now, she herself was still far from there. Probably, Oumuamua traveled hundreds of millions of years along the Milky Way, not joining any star until it accidentally met on its way with the solar system.
Strong flashes of sunlight illuminated the asteroid, parts of which were in shadow from telescopes. Astronomers saw the full outline of the asteroid and with confidence can say that our cockpit flew into the sun. The dick does not pose a threat to the land.
