An Interstellar Asteroid Just Flew Past Earth, Here’s What You Need To Know [Seeker]

In October 2017, astronomers observed an interstellar asteroid for the first time. We talked to one of the first to study it, and here’s everything they’ve learned in the months since.

This animation shows the path of A/2017 U1, which is an asteroid — or perhaps a comet — as it passed through our inner solar system in September and October 2017. From analysis of its motion, scientists calculate that it probably originated from outside of our solar system.

Here’s what is known so far: It’s roughly 1300 feet in diameter and is moving in a weird orbit, highly inclined to the plane of the solar system. It appears to have come from the constellation Lyra and was moving really quickly in interstellar space, at a speed of about 15.8 miles a second.

The object zoomed into our solar system from above the path in which most planets and asteroids orbit the sun, called the ecliptic. Comets can be more inclined to the ecliptic, but they’re not this extreme in inclination. They also tend to come from two zones: the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune, or the Oort Cloud closer to the edge of the solar system.

The object is now cruising above the ecliptic at roughly 27 miles (44 kilometers) per second and making a beeline for the constellation Pegasus.



(by: Seeker)