A Hawaii-based astronomer discovered an interstellar asteroid on 19 October 2017. Rob Weryk, a postdoctoral student/researcher at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy, discovered the asteroid from another star system using an observatory on Maui.

Image Source

Asteroid Given the Name 'Oumuamua

Weryk and Marco Micheli, a fellow Institute for Astronomy research, measured the asteroid's size, velocity and trajectory using the Pan-Starrs1 observatory on the Haleakala volcano on Maui.

Image Source

The asteroid, 1I/2017 U1, has a velocity that exceeds the escape velocity of our Sun. The asteroid's velocity and eccentric trajectory suggest it originated from outside our Solar System.

Image Source

The first known interstellar asteroid was given the name 'Oumuamua, which in Hawaiian means "a messenger from afar arriving first".

'Oumuamua has similar appearance to asteroids found in our Solar System. 'Oumuamua resembles a chunky cigar, measuring 180 meters by 30 meters.

It is theorized that 'Oumuamua was flung out of it's solar system as it was forming. 'Oumuamua may be the first evidence astronomers have observed of such an interstellar asteroid.

Sources and Full Articles

Interstellar asteroid is given a name, BBC News, 17 November 2017

Interstellar Interloper 1I/2017 U1: Observations from the NOT and WIYN Telescopes, Astrophysical Journal Letters

Thank You!

If you like this post, you can upvote, follow, share, and re-steem this post.
Thank you!