First Interstellar Asteroid Found

[SF cookie]

@ Austin:

No, the vast majority of solar systems orbit the centre of our galaxy in a roughly circular orbit. Very like our solar system's planets orbit around our sun.

There are plenty of solar systems which don't follow tidy 'more-or-less' circular orbits around the galactic center but they are thought to be systems whose galactic orbits can be explained by one of the following:

1) some previous gravitational interaction with another star or other massive object,
2) the star was part of a binary system whose partner went super-nova,
3) the star originated outside our galaxy and is a left-over part of an earlier galactic merger.

Sorry, but I can't do computional astronomy - I'm a C-minus at that sort of thing.

 

[OmCheeto]

How did you figure all out of this? With my knowledge, solar systems move uniquely towards the center of our Galaxy, there's no way Vega is in there, from the direction of the Asteroid. Is it?

My knowledge in Astronomy is very little, I would love your direct and simple explanation.

Thanks,
Austin

The comment; "Coming from the direction of Vega" was from the ProjectPluto website. My "figuring it out" was, um..., to google it.

"Pseudo-MPEC" for A/2017 U1

...Where did it come from?

... about five degrees away from the bright star Vega.​

 

[stefan r]

Right, and we can't go back from the same spot, ever. Right?

Depends on which reference frame you use. I remember seeing a full moon on the horizon on my way home from work. Suppose I see the full moon on the horizon again a month later. Would you say it is in "the same spot"? It is "on the horizon".

Ecliptic coordinate system
Celestial coordinate system
Cosmic microwave background

the object came from RA=18h 39m 14s, dec=+33 59' 50", with an uncertainty of about 2'

That is the Equatorial coordinate system

 

[rootone]

It is space time not just space.
The solar system and the galaxy as a whole cannot return to previous state.
No matter what your frame of reference is

 

[Tom.G]

Any idea who runs "projectpluto.com"?

A WHOIS lookup returns the name, address, phone #

 

[Hornbein]

I like the theory that 'Oumuamua is a crystal of hydrogen formed in interstellar space. It explains neatly some of its peculiar properties. This has been published in Astrophysical Journal.

Evidence that 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua) was composed of molecular hydrogen ice.