In October 2017, an object moving rapidly through the Solar System was observed by Pan-STARRS 1 (discovery image, 19 October 2017), Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (22 October 2017) and various other telescopes. It appears to be a dark, reddish, highly-elongated rocky or high-metal-content object. Astronomers calculated it is around 800 metres long and has a mean radius of around 104 metres. The orbit calculations revealed it did not originate from inside the Solar System, instead Oumuamua is the first interstellar asteroid discovered.
Credits:
ESO, M. Kornmesser, L.Calcada.
A brief visit from a red and extremely elongated interstellar asteroid
Karen J. Meech, Robert Weryk, Marco Micheli, Jan T. Kleyna, Olivier R. Hainaut, Robert Jedicke, Richard J. Wainscoat, Kenneth C. Chambers, Jacqueline V. Keane, Andreea Petric, Larry Denneau, Eugene Magnier, Travis Berger, Mark E. Huber, Heather Flewelling, Chris Waters, Eva Schunova-Lilly & Serge Chastel
Nature, DOI:10.1038/nature25020
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