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Interstellar object 'Oumuamua is a pancake-shaped chunk of a Pluto-like planet
Oumuamua, the first known visitor from interstellar space, was likely a pancake-shaped chip off a Pluto-like world.
Science & Tech
The first known visitor from interstellar space, 'Oumuamua, was likely a pancake-shaped chip off a Pluto-like world, researchers say.
These findings may shed on the stuff a new class of planet, an exo-Pluto, is made of, scientists added.
Astronomers first detected the mysterious visitor named 1I/'Oumuamua — meaning 'scout' or 'messenger' in Hawaiian — in 2017. 'Oumuamua's speed and trajectory revealed it originated outside the solar system, making it the first known interstellar object.
The second known interstellar object, 2I/Borisov, was detected in 2019. Borisov was very clearly a comet, spewing out gases and possessing a composition much like comets long seen in the solar system.