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- A new article suggests that a star’s tidal forces may have created ‘Oumuamua.
- The interstellar object ‘Oumuamua was first seen in 2017.
- The object is known for its elongated shape and unusual trajectory.
Scientists may have discovered the origins of ‘Oumuamua, the first interstellar object to be seen visiting our Solar System. The reddish, dry and strangely elongated ‘Oumuamua, known to move unexpectedly, has been the subject of much speculation. Some, of course, have raised the idea that it could be an alien spacecraft, possibly a probe. Now scientists propose that tidal forces, gravitational interactions similar to those of Earth, are responsible for their existence and unusual behavior.
The cigar-shaped ‘Oumuamua, 400 meters (1,300 feet) long, was first discovered on October 19, 2017, by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System 1 (Pan-STARRS1) based in Hawaii. Since then, scientists and astronomers around the world have wondered where it comes from, especially in light of factors like its acceleration away from the Sun in a trajectory that cannot be explained simply by the effects of gravity.
Simulation showing the interstellar object ‘Oumuamua as a collection of fragments in an elongated form.
Credit: ZHANG Yun / background by ESO / M. Kornmesser
The new study, carried out by by Zhang Yun from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) and Douglas N. C. Lin from the University of California, Santa Cruz, says the object of the mystery is natural. Clues that point to that include the colors of the space body and the lack of radio emissions from it.
While scientists expect an interstellar visitor to be icy, like a comet, Oumuamua is dry and has a rocky body like an asteroid, leading researchers to conclude that there are more rocky objects flying between solar systems than ever before. they considered.
How did such an object come about? Zhang and Lin think it is a piece ripped from another space body by a larger object. They performed computer simulations, focusing on the example of tidal disruption imposed by Jupiter on Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in 1992 to show that when a star is involved in such a flyby, a result is possible that could create the elongated fragment like that of ‘Oumuamua’.
The effects of a tidal interruption of a star on a space object.
Credit: NAOC / Y. Zhang
The researchers demonstrated that after a space body is separated by the star’s tidal forces, its fragments melt and form a cigar-shaped arrangement. The resulting parts would cool as the object moves away from the star, hardening into a crust. Later it is pushed more into space.
Scientists also have an explanation for the acceleration of an object like this, proposing that heating of water ice below its surface by the Sun can cause a release of gas that would act as a propellant.
“The tidal fragmentation scenario not only provides a way to form a single ‘Oumuamua, but also represents the vast population of rocky interstellar objects,” said Zhang. He thinks that all types of space objects, such as long-period comets, debris disks, and possibly even planets, can turn into ‘Oumuamua-sized bodies when approaching a star.
“‘Oumuamua is just the tip of the iceberg,” Lin said, adding: “We anticipate that many more interstellar visitors with similar traits will be discovered by future observation with the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory.”
You can read the study in Nature Astronomy.
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