The first known object from beyond the Solar System to visit Earth's neighborhood- Oumuamua "very likely" came from a dual star system.
The latest findings on this cigar-shaped object were carried out by researchers at the University of Toronto. Oumuamua came hurtling into the Solar System, did a round about of the Sun and is now on the way back out. It was first observed in October last year.
One of the reasons for astronomers to believe that Oumuamua came from a two-star system where at least one of the stars are really big and hot.
Dual star systems are likely to have bodies orbiting it that are more rocky than icy, orbiting close to the stars in the "prime ejection zone", reports Space.com.
"It's really odd that the first object we would see from outside our system would be an asteroid because a comet would be a lot easier to spot, and the solar system ejects many more comets than asteroids," said study lead author Alan Jackson, from the University of Toronto in a statement.
Oumuamua could have been ejected in the early years of planetary formation from its binary system. This suggests that the asteroid has been flying through space for possibly millions, if not billions of years at a speed of 30 km per second. The release says that at its closest, Oumuamua was 33,000,000 km from Earth.
"Oumuamua's orbit has the highest eccentricity ever observed in an object passing through our Solar System," pointed out Jackson.
This ejection from its binary star system could be the "violent past" it faced. Earlier this year, scientists found that the object was spinning and tumbling chaotically and has probably been that way for billions of years.
Research on Oumuamua will continue, notes the release, as several questions about it are still unanswered. Observing and studying strange objects like this could lead to the better understanding of how planet formation happens in the galaxy.
"The same way we use comets to better understand planet formation in our own Solar System, maybe this curious object can tell us more about how planets form in other systems," said Jackson.
Oumuamua- which means "scout" was first spotted from an observatory in the Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii on 19 October 2017.
Several theories about it were floated, including it being an alien spaceship. It had certain characteristic features that made it unique like a reddish brown color, a soft mushy, organic surface, and it 400 meter-long cigar shaped body. It is currently moving away from the Solar System, it will reach Jovian orbit in May and Saturn by January next year.
