![]() ![]() 'Oumuamua flew into the solar system at a high inclination of about 122 degrees off the ecliptic of the solar system (the ecliptic is the approximate plane upon which the planets orbit). However, the vast empty space of the Milky Way means that 'Oumuamua, which is less than 400 meters in diameter, is the first such object detected since scientists began turning telescopes to the skies. Multiply that by the billions of stars in the galaxy, and a rough estimate for the number of interstellar comets and asteroids falls in the ballpark of 10 24 to 10 25, a septillion or more. New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern, who predicted scientists would eventually find an interstellar object back in 1997, told Astronomy Magazine that during the formation of the solar system, the gas giants probably ejected between 10 13 and 10 14 objects larger than 1 km in diameter-between a trillion and a quadrillion space rocks. ![]() Interstellar space rocks, ejected from the orbits of other stars by gravitational encounters with massive planets, must be abundant throughout the galaxy. "Oumuamua" is defined in a 1922 dictionary of the Hawaiian language as "the foremost soldier or the front rank in battle," and "a scout one sent forward before a battle to discover the position of the enemy."įor decades, astronomers have predicted that eventually they would find an interstellar object (even exotic, rarely-seen comets are making long loops around our sun). The Hawaiian word 'Oumuamua is loosely translated as "scout" or "messenger," combining the word 'ou, which means to reach out for, and mua, which means first or in advance of (repeated for emphasis). The trajectory of \’oumuamua, which made its closest approach to earth on october 14, flying within 15,000,000 miles (24,000,000 km), or about 60 times the distance to the moon.
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