[ad_1]
An active asteroid, a remnant of a larger celestial body shattered by a parent star, could be the mysterious Oumuamua, the first “interstellar immigrant” in the Solar System, writes MTI.
In 2017, a cigar-shaped fragment of rocky rock cut through the Solar System at high speed. The researchers called the heavenly body Oumuamua, “the first distant message to reach Hawaii.”
One of its characteristics is that it does not have a dust and gas envelope emitted by comets during heating. According to experts, the object was accelerated by the loss of water vapor and other gases, which can be seen in comets but not in asteroids. Thus, scientists have concluded that Oumuamua is a comet in disguise, according to the Guardian online edition.
“Most planet-like bodies are made up of many pieces of rock that merge under the influence of gravity. They can be considered as sandcastles floating in space, “he said. Jun Chang, co-author of a study at the French Riviera Observatory in France.
These celestial bodies are affected by a variety of forces as they pass through their stars. According to Chang, the tidal effect between a planet or a smaller body and a star is characterized by the current between the star’s gravitational pull and the passing body’s own gravity. If the celestial body passes too close to the star, crossing a certain limit, it can stretch and break.
the Astronomy of nature In the study presented in Chang and Doug Lin, a member of the Lick Observatory at the University of California, described computer models that shed light on how this process could have resulted in the shape and characteristics of the Oumuamua, such as its color and movement.
Chang said the volatile materials on Oumuamua’s surface may have been lost due to the heat from the parent star, but some water ice may have been left below the surface, which was then melted by the hotter sun, which may explain its unusual acceleration.
According to the researchers, Oumuamua could have evolved from a comet or a planet many times larger than Earth,
the first best explains the water ice below the surface. The star around which the Oumumua formed probably resembled the Sun, only smaller and denser, it could have been a white dwarf.
On October 19, 2017, astronomers at the University of Hawaii detected an object passing through the Solar System at very high speeds. It was visible for approximately 2.5 months after its discovery using high-performance ground-based telescopes. The researchers may have been able to continue the work based on the information gathered, but they can no longer see the celestial cigar-shaped body. In 2018, Oumuamua was officially declared a comet.
[ad_2]
