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Study of Recent Interstellar Asteroid Reveals Bizarre Shape (bbc.com)

JoeRobe writes: A few weeks ago an interstellar asteroid, now named "Oumuamua," was discovered passing through our solar system. Being the first interstellar asteroid to ever be observed, a flurry of observations soon followed. This week, an accelerated article in Nature reveals that Oumuamua is more bizarre than originally thought: it is elongated, with a 10:1 aspect ratio, and rapidly rotating. This conclusion is based upon comparisons of its time-dependent light curve to those from 20,000 known asteroids.

2 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. It's the first trans-galactic rock we've noticed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let's not name it or decide how weird it is yet, thanks.

  2. Re:Wild thought by Kaenneth · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Depends in it's made of useful materials for the trip, like ice (H2O)