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'Oumuamua Outgasses Like a Comet

posted by Fnord666 on Friday June 29 2018, @08:57AM   
from the just-don't-call-it-haley dept.

takyon writes:

The interstellar space rock that mystified astronomers is actually a comet

A mysterious space rock, first spotted in 2017, bewildered astronomers — was it an icy comet, a rocky asteroid, or something entirely new? As the object, called 'Oumuamua, hurtles away from us, the mystery may be solved: it's accelerating like a comet.

Researchers tracked the space rock's trajectory on its way out of this solar system, using telescopes on the ground and the powerful Hubble Space Telescope to keep watch even as the interstellar visitor faded out of [sight]. They discovered that 'Oumuamua's speed couldn't just be the result of gravity. It was accelerating — which could be explained by gas puffing out of the sun-warmed end of a comet, the team reports today in the journal Nature [DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0254-4] [DX].

'Oumuamua.

Also at ESA and ESA/Hubble.

Previously: Interstellar Asteroid Named: Oumuamua
ESO Observations Show First Interstellar Asteroid is Like Nothing Seen Before
Oumuamua Likely Originated in the Local Association (Pleiades Moving Group)

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Original Submission

• Comet Comet (Score: 3, Funny) by pkrasimirov on Friday June 29 2018, @09:00AM (1 child)

  by pkrasimirov (3358) on Friday June 29 2018, @09:00AM (#700170)

  "gas puffing out of the sun-warmed end of a comet" they said...

  "Got a brand new Tesla, returning home, over!"

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• Re:Comet (Score: 4, Funny) by zocalo on Friday June 29 2018, @09:28AM

  by zocalo (302) on Friday June 29 2018, @09:28AM (#700175)

  Bonus. It even comes with a mannequin for the car pool lane.

  --
  UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!

  Parent