There are 19 interstellar asteroids between Jupiter and Neptune and even computers cannot predict where they are going.

• Oumuamua and Borisov were not the first interstellar asteroids to visit our solar system.
• Scientists have discovered 19 news asteroids hidden in the space between Neptune and Jupiter.
• These 19 Centaurus family asteroids orbit the Sun in an airplane that was perpendicular to planetary motion 4.5 billion years ago.

Interstellar asteroids, asteroids from outside our solar system, may not be as rare as we once thought they were. An entire population was discovered between Jupiter and Neptune.

The Centaurus family of asteroids roams the space between the two gas giants, but even computer models can’t predict where they’ll be headed next.

“Discovering an entire population of asteroids of interstellar origin is an important step in understanding the physical and chemical similarities and differences between interstellar and asteroids born in the solar system,” he said.
Maria Helena Morais, one of the authors of the discovery published in the
Monthly notices from the Royal Astronomical Society.

The general consensus in the scientific community is that interstellar asteroids are rare and visit the neck of the solar system every two years as they pass. Other than that, we have the asteroid belt, which stretches from Mars to Jupiter.

This also means that Oumuamua was not the first interstellar visit, nor was Borisov. the Centaur asteroids They have been around since the birth of our solar system, even though they themselves were born in other star systems.

The origin story of centaur asteroids
These 19 new asteroids from the Centaurus family could have originated outside the solar system, according to calculations. The researchers claim that there is no other plausible explanation for their orbits and characteristics.

Simulations show that these Centaurs orbit the Sun in a plane that was perpendicular to planetary motion at the time. They also imply that the asteroids were located far from the disk that gave rise to the asteroids in our own solar system.

“The proximity of the stars meant they felt the gravity of each other much stronger in those early days than they do today. This allowed asteroids to be carried from one star system to another, “said Fathi Namouni, lead author of the study.

When our own solar system was born 4.5 billion years ago, Centaurs became trapped in its gravity and have been orbiting our Sun in incognito mode ever since.

In search of other interstellar asteroids that may have hidden in plain sight


The ability to differentiate between interstellar asteroids and native asteroids has long eluded astronomers.

“This population will give us clues to the Sun’s early birth cluster, how the capture of interstellar asteroids occurred, and the role interstellar matter played in the chemical enrichment of the Solar System and in shaping its evolution,” said Namouni.

Scientists now plan to continue this work looking for specific events when the common capture of various extrasolar bodies occurred.

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