Turns out, it came from another star system. This is the first time humanity has observed an interstellar object. Astronomers discovered it on Oct. 19. At first, they thought it was a comet.

These icy bodies contain organic molecules — and don’t fall into any known category of celestial object we’ve seen before.

"We're trying to encounter an astronomical object that streaks through our solar system just once and we don’t want to miss ...

A new model has been developed to simulate interstellar activity within our solar system and the nearby Alpha Centauri system ...

The detection of a large interstellar object in 2017 named 'Oumuamua was a landmark discovery. Figuring out where the wayward traveler came from, though, is another challenge entirely, especially ...

More information: Richard Cloete et al, Machine learning methods for automated interstellar object classification with LSST, Astronomy & Astrophysics (2024). DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202451118 ...

Tsukamoto said there are two main challenges: The interstellar object is a high-energy, high-speed target, and its trajectory is always poorly constrained due to the unpredictable nature of its visit.

The object's trajectory strongly suggested it came from another star system, making it the first interstellar object ever detected. Scientists gave it a Hawaiian name, 'Oumuamua, meaning "scout ...