Canadian astronomers think that the first confirmed interstellar object to enter our solar system, a rocky, cigar-shaped asteroid called ‘Oumuamua, probably came from a binary star system.
To make their findings, the researchers at the University of Toronto’s Center for Planetary Science checked into just how effective twin star systems are at ejecting objects like asteroids and comets into the cosmos.
The group also examined data to determine just how commonplace these type duo-star systems are in the Milky Way Galaxy.
Shown in 7-day increments, this is the trajectory of ʻOumuamua as it passed through the inner Solar System. It reached its closest point with the Sun or perihelion on September 9, 2017. It was discovered 40 days later, on October 19, 2017. (Tom Ruen, data from NASA/JPL Horizons/Creative Commons-Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International via Wikimedia Commons)
Outlining their research in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the scientists say they found that rocky objects like ‘Oumuamua are much more likely to originate from a binary than a single star system.
The evidence they collected indicated that the home solar-system of the oddly-shaped asteroid probably had a star that was high in mass and hot.
It’s thought a number of rocky objects for circle close to the stars such as these.
They also found that twin star systems eject just as many rocky objects as icy comet-like objects.
‘Oumuamua, which means scout in Hawaiian was discovered on October 19, 2017, by astronomer Robert Weryk, who used the Pan-STARRS telescope at the Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii.
When spotted by Weryk, the object, which is thought to have a radius of about 200 meters, had reached its closest point to the Sun or perihelion 40 days earlier, was traveling at a speed of some 30 kilometers per second and was about 33,000,000 kilometers from Earth.
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