Scientists have published yet another novel theory to try and explain the really bizarre object, ‘Oumuamua, that was discovered in 2017. With a trajectory that indicates it originated somewhere outside our solar system and a cigar-like shape reminiscent of the ship in the novel Rendezvous with Rama, this bizarre object has been explained as being anything from a tidally distorted asteroid to an actual spacecraft. 

In new research presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), researchers Steven Desch and Alan Jackson explain that ‘Oumuamua’s behavior near the Sun is consistent with it being a chunk of solid nitrogen gas. While this kind of composition is just plain weird for a comet, we do see it on the surface of Pluto, and they theorize that ‘Oumuamua was knocked off an alien planet and sent on its journey toward Earth. 

According to Jackson: It was likely knocked off the surface by an impact about half a billion years ago and thrown out of its parent system. Being made of frozen nitrogen also explains the unusual shape of ‘Oumuamua. As the outer layers of nitrogen ice evaporated, the shape of the body would have become progressively more flattened, just like a bar of soap does as the outer layers get rubbed off through use. 

This theory matches the observations nicely, but with ‘Oumuamua on a fast path to leave our solar system, we will likely never know if this, or one of the other theories, is the real answer.

More Information

Arizona State University press release

“1I/‘Oumuamua as an N2 ice fragment of an exo‐Pluto surface: I. Size and Compositional Constraints,” Alan P. Jackson and Steven J. Desch, 2021 March 16, JGR Planets

“1I/‘Oumuamua as an N2 ice fragment of an exo‐pluto surface II: Generation of N2 ice fragments and the origin of ‘Oumuamua,” S. J Desch and A. P Jackson, 2021 March 16, JGR Planets