Scientists discover an interstellar asteroid for the first time. They have speculated about objects from outside of our solar system coming through our neighborhood but they have never seen one until now. It was discovered on October 19, 2017 by by the University of Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS1 telescope, funded by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations (NEOO) Program,. Scientists determined by the steep trajectory of this object that it’s origin is from outside the Solar system.
This asteroid looks very different than the asteroids we are used to seeing. This one is elongated in shape. It looks like a giant reddish cigar floating through space. It is up to 400 meters long and may be 10 times as long as it is wide.
The largest telescopes on Earth including the ESO’s Very Large Telescope have turned their attention to checking out this unique find. This asteroid will not be around for long so scientists need to study it while they can still see it.
What an awesome discovery. It is amazing all of stuff we don’t know yet.
(NASA)
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