First interstellar object from beyond our solar system spotted
27 Oct 2017 5:26 PM GMT
Astronomers have spotted what is believed to be the first known object originating from a different solar system to come into our own neighbourhood.
The interstellar object, which could be an asteroid or a comet, has sparked huge enthusiasm from scientists who are urgently working to gather information on the mysterious body before it disappears from sight.
According to observers, the object is on a hyperbolic trajectory which suggests the body has escaped from a star from outside our solar system.
Early findings published in the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre (MPEC) state: "If further observations confirm the unusual nature of this orbit, this object may be the first clear case of an interstellar comet."
The mysterious object, called A/2017 U1, was discovered by the University of Hawaii's Pan-STARRS 1 telescope on Haleakala, Hawaii.
Rob Weryk from the University of Hawaii's Institute of Astronomy was the first to identify the moving object. Comparing his findings with images taken at the European Space Agency's telescope on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, he concluded the object came from somewhere else in our galaxy.
The alien space rock is less than a quarter mile 400 metres in diameter and is believed to have come from the direction of the constellation Lyra, travelling through space at the remarkable speed of 25.5 kilometres per second. Scientists have long believed in the existence of such interstellar objects because a lot of material is thought to be ejected from planetary systems when planets are formed but this is the first time they may have found one.
New information obtained from observing the object could allow astronomers to know more about its origin and possibly its composition.
Ancient ocean remnants found on dwarf planet Ceres, says NASA
Washington: NASA's Dawn mission to Ceres has found the evidence of residual liquid left over from an ancient global ocean on the dwarf planet. The researchers found that Ceres' crust is a mixture of ice, salts and hydrated materials that were subjected to past and possibly recent geologic activity, and that this crust represents most of that ocean. They suggest that there is a softer, easily deformable layer beneath Ceres' rigid surface crust, which could be the signature of residual liquid.
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