A new ’Oumuamua theory could mean many more interstellar visitors are headed our way
A close approach to its host star could have torn a comet into smaller pieces. Perhaps one of those slivers found its way into our galaxy. (ESO/M. Kornmesser/)'Oumuamua shattered astronomers’ expectations when it streaked past the sun in 2017. It was skinny, not round. It looked rather dry with ruddy hue—nothing like the ice ball it should have resembled. To make matters worse, it jetted away as if it were moving under its own power. The first interstellar object to be spotted in our solar system exploded researchers’ assumptions about what sorts of bodies are most likely to escape their host star, and how. Three years later, they’re still trying to figure out where they went wrong. New results based on computer simulations, which appeared Monday in Nature Astronomy, aim to tie up all 'Oumuamua’s mysteries into one explanatory package: once upon a time, a distant star shredded a comet...