‘Oumuamua is still lurking somewhere in the outer Solar System

Space Explored By Arin Waichulis September 27, 2021

ʻOumuamua is the first known interstellar object detected passing through the Solar System. While it was detected in 2017, it still hasn't left us completely yet.

Researchers at Harvard’s Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics made waves in the mainstream media after publishing a paper claiming the object may have had an “artificial origin.” Researchers at Harvard’s Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics made waves in the mainstream media after publishing a paper claiming the object may have had an “artificial origin.”

This theory is based on the object’s “excess acceleration,” or its unexpected boost in speed separate from the Sun’s gravitational influence. This still stumps researchers today.

There’s a lot we haven’t learned about the quarter-mile-long object since its discovery in 2017. One thing is for certain, though; it’s traveling fast, blistering fast.

In fact, when ‘Oumuamua was closest to Earth, it was tumbling through the inner Solar System at 196,000 mph (87.3 kph) . That is over 3 times faster than the average speed of a main-belt asteroid.

Despite this, almost 4 years later, ‘Oumuamua is still in our Solar System, currently cruising between the orbits of Uranus and Neptune.

It won’t be completely out into interstellar space for another 3 years, highlighting how vast space really is.

To this day, we’ve yet to classify ‘Oumuamua. This is in part because we honestly have no idea how to.

Scientists and researchers are stumped. Only left to speculate, with little data, what the cosmic visitor was as it gets further and further from view.