The Natural History of 'Oumuamua
arXiv:1907.01910 · doi:10.1038/s41550-019-0816-x
Abstract
The discovery of the first interstellar object passing through the Solar System, 1I/2017 U1 ('Oumuamua), provoked intense and continuing interest from the scientific community and the general public. The faintness of 'Oumuamua, together with the limited time window within which observations were possible, constrained the information available on its dynamics and physical state. Here we review our knowledge and find that in all cases the observations are consistent with a purely natural origin for 'Oumuamua. We discuss how the observed characteristics of 'Oumuamua are explained by our extensive knowledge of natural minor bodies in our Solar System and our current knowledge of the evolution of planetary systems. We highlight several areas requiring further investigation.
Published in Nature Astronomy, 01 July 2019. 16 pages, 4 figures, 1 table
References in corpus (31)
- One or more bound planets per Milky Way star from microlensing observations
- A New Planet Around an M Dwarf: Revealing a Correlation Between Exoplanets and Stellar Mass
- The Exoplanet Mass-Ratio Function from the MOA-II Survey: Discovery of a Break and Likely Peak at a Neptune Mass
- Initial mass function of planetesimals formed by the streaming instability
- Interstellar Interloper 1I/2017 U1: Observations from the NOT and WIYN Telescopes
- Origin and Evolution of Short-Period Comets
- Densities of Solar System Objects from their Rotational Lightcurves
- An Observational Upper Limit on the Interstellar Number Density of Asteroids and Comets
- Spectroscopy and thermal modelling of the first interstellar object 1I/2017 U1 'Oumuamua
- Planet-planet scattering in planetesimal disks
- Short dissipation times of proto-planetary discs - an artifact of selection effects?
- 1I/2017 U1 (`Oumuamua) is Hot: Imaging, Spectroscopy and Search of Meteor Activity
- Col-OSSOS: Colors of the Interstellar Planetesimal 1I/`Oumuamua
- APO Time Resolved Color Photometry of Highly-Elongated Interstellar Object 1I/'Oumuamua
- Rotation of Cometary Nuclei: New Lightcurves and an Update of the Ensemble Properties of Jupiter-Family Comets
- On the rotation period and shape of the hyperbolic asteroid 1I/`Oumuamua (2017) U1 from its lightcurve
- Cluster dynamics largely shapes protoplanetary disc sizes
- Implications for planetary system formation from interstellar object 1I/2017 U1 (`Oumuamua)
- Formation of sharp edges and planar areas of asteroids by polyhedral abrasion
- Realistic Detectability of Close Interstellar Comets
- 1I/`Oumuamua as a Tidal Disruption Fragment From a Binary Star System
- Could 1I/'Oumuamua be an icy fractal aggregate?
- `Oumuamua as a messenger from the Local Association
- The fate of planetesimal discs in young open clusters: implications for 1I/'Oumuamua, the Kuiper belt, the Oort cloud and more
- Prospects for Backtracing 1I/`Oumuamua and Future Interstellar Objects
- On the Anomalous Acceleration of 1I/2017 U1 `Oumuamua
- The velocity ellipsoid in the Galactic disc using Gaia DR1
- Dust bombardment can explain the extremely elongated shape of 1I/'Oumuamua and the lack of interstellar objects
- Collisional Elongation: Possible Origin of Extremely Elongated Shape of 1I/`Oumuamua
- Overview of initial results from the reconnaissance flyby of a Kuiper Belt planetesimal: 2014 MU69
- Preperihelion Outbursts and Disintegration of Comet C/2017 S3 (Pan-STARRS)
Cited by in corpus (6)
- Initial characterization of interstellar comet 2I/Borisov
- Detection of CN gas in Interstellar Object 2I/Borisov
- Pre-discovery Activity of New Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov Beyond 5 AU
- Capture of interstellar objects: a source of long-period comets
- New Insights into Interstellar Object 1I/2017 U1 (`Oumuamua) from SOHO/STEREO Nondetections
- On the aspect ratio of Oumuamua: less elongated shape for irregular surface properties