ʻOumuamua was the first known interstellar visitor to pass through the Solar System. Since Space Explored first began reporting on 'Oumuamua, the quarter-mile-long object passed beyond Pluto's orbit and is now on its way out of the outer Solar System.
Researchers at Harvard's Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics made waves in the mainstream media after publishing a paper claiming that 'Oumuamua may have had an "artificial origin" — Presenting speculation that the object could have been sent "intentionally to Earth vicinity by an alien civilization."
This theory is based on the object's "excess acceleration," or its unexpected boost in speed separate from the Sun's gravitational influence. This still stumps researchers today.
We haven't learned much about the interstellar object since its discovery in 2017. One thing is for certain, though; it's traveling fast, blistering fast.
In fact, when 'Oumuamua was closest to Earth, it was tumbling through the inner Solar System at 196,000 miles per hour (87.3 kilometers per second), according to NASA. That is over 3 times faster than the average speed of a main-belt asteroid and 109 times fast than the average speed of a bullet, however, only .017 percent the speed of light. In case you were wondering.
Despite this, almost 5 years later, 'Oumuamua is just now leaving the outer Solar System. It's currently cruising just pasted Pluto, covering a distance of over 2,832,000 miles (4,557,662 km) every 24 hours. It won't completely be out in interstellar space for another 2 years.
spaceexplored.com
