The Oumuamua intergalactic visitor has blocked scientists since he went through our Solar System in 2017, sparking a number of speculations as he passed away – a Harvard professor says -it’s an alien traveler and others say it’s a giant cosmic ‘bunny dust’ or just a comet.
Now, a team from Arizona State University (ASU) has added to the growing list of theories, suggesting that the object is a fragment of nitrogen ice from a distant planet similar to Pluto.
The new study builds on previous work that concluded that Oumuamua is a hydrogen iceberg, but says that this proposal misses the move of the iceberg. quickly and emptying before reaching our Solar System.
Nitrogen ice, however, is found throughout objects outside the Solar System and reflects about two-thirds of sunlight – Oumuamua is said to be 10 times more reflective than comets.
Researchers at ASU also note that Pluto and Triton, the largest moon in Neptune, are rich in Nitrogen gas and may have once had thousands of Pluto-like worlds.
In the early stages of our Solar System, these groups are said to have dispersed and received many effects from smaller groups, which sent large lumps of nitrogen ice to fly through space – and one of them may be Oumuamua.
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A team from Arizona State University (ASU) is proposing that Oumuamua is a fragment of nitrogen ice from a distant planet like Pluto. Nitrogen ice is found throughout objects outside the Solar System and reflects about two-thirds of sunlight – Oumuamua is said to be 10 times more reflective than comets
The theory about Oumuamu being a large piece of Nitrogen ice was proposed by Alan Jackson and Steve Desch, both researchers at ASU, at the 2021 Lunar Planetary Science conference.
‘In recent work, we are considering the possibility that‘ Oumuamua could be a fragment of N2 ice, ’read the suggestion.
‘In considering the origin and extent of the occurrence of N2 ice chips we return to the comparison with the surface of Pluto and Triton.’
Today N2 ice covers the surface of Pluto and Triton to a depth of a few km, but the N2 ice layer may have been much thicker in the past. The cosmic abundance of nitrogen allows the mass of N2 ice to be as high as 16% that of H2O ice. ‘
Researchers explain that Pluto (pictured) is covered in a Nitrogen ice sheet that is about 110,880 feet thick. Also located in the Kuiper Belt is a smaller dwarf planet called Gonggong, which sits slightly longer than Pluto, and is covered by a cover that is about 58,080 feet thick.
The investigations continue to explain that Pluto is covered by a Nitrogen ice cover that is about 110,880 feet thick.
Also located in the Kuiper Belt is a smaller dwarf planet called Gonggong, which sits slightly longer than Pluto, and is covered by a cover that is about 58,080 feet thick.
The Kuiper Belt, which begins at Neptune’s orbit, consists of 20 to 35 planets with Earth-like masses and is believed to have been about six times larger in the early stages of Earth’s orbit. -Solar System.
When Neptune migrated and lowered the primordial Kuiper belt, these bodies are said to have dispersed and affected a number of smaller groups.
In the case of planets the size of Pluto, effects during scattering could have sent 0.5 percent of its mass away from space, which is a Nitrogen ice sheet about 130,000 feet thick.
The Kuiper Belt contains 20 to 35 planets with Earth-like masses. When Neptune migrated and lowered the primordial Kuiper belt, these bodies are said to have dispersed and affected several smaller groups.
For a Gonggong-sized body about three percent of the mass would be ground, which equates to a 36,089-foot-deep cover.
The team notes that the average Nitrogen ice time would last 500 million years as it travels up through space, with larger formations lasting longer.
‘Overall if other stellar systems have the same ejecta profile as the solar system we expect about 4% of groups in the ISM to be N2 ice fragments, making’ Oumuamua a relatively small group or -normal, but not specific, ‘reads the recommendation.
Oumuamua was discovered in October 2017 by a telescope in Hawaii millions of miles away.
During the impacts, extremely thick layers of Nitrogen ice were introduced into space and experts believe that Oumuamua may be one of them.
The object did not appear to be a normal rock, as after going around the sun, it sped up and went off the expected path, led by a secret force. .
This could easily be explained if it was a comet extracting gas and debris – but there was no evidence of this ‘outgassing’.
The passenger also crashed in a strange way – as evidenced by how it became brighter and lower in scientists’ telescopes, and was surprisingly light, perhaps suggesting that made of clear metal.
To explain what happened, astronomers came up with novel theories, such that it was made of hydrogen ice so there would be no visible paths, or it would go into a cloud of dust – but now recommends being an Nitrogen iceberg.