The natural history of ‘Oumuamua

The ‘Oumuamua ISSI Team

doi:10.1038/s41550-019-0816-x

The natural history of ‘Oumuamua

The ‘Oumuamua ISSI Team

Astronomy and Planetary Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

86 Scopus citations

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.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	594-602
Number of pages	9
Journal	Nature Astronomy
Volume	3
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0816-x
State	Published - Jul 1 2019

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics

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abstract = "The discovery of the first interstellar object passing through the Solar System, 1I/2017 U1 ({\textquoteleft}Oumuamua), provoked intense and continuing interest from the scientific community and the general public. The faintness of {\textquoteleft}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 {\textquoteleft}Oumuamua. We discuss how the observed characteristics of {\textquoteleft}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.",

author = "{The {\textquoteleft}Oumuamua ISSI Team} and Bannister, {Michele T.} and Asmita Bhandare and Dybczy{\'n}ski, {Piotr A.} and Alan Fitzsimmons and Aur{\'e}lie Guilbert-Lepoutre and Robert Jedicke and Knight, {Matthew M.} and Meech, {Karen J.} and Andrew McNeill and Susanne Pfalzner and Raymond, {Sean N.} and Colin Snodgrass and Trilling, {David E.} and Quanzhi Ye",

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doi = "10.1038/s41550-019-0816-x",

language = "English (US)",

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T1 - The natural history of ‘Oumuamua

AU - The ‘Oumuamua ISSI Team

AU - Bannister, Michele T.

AU - Bhandare, Asmita

AU - Dybczyński, Piotr A.

AU - Fitzsimmons, Alan

AU - Guilbert-Lepoutre, Aurélie

AU - Jedicke, Robert

AU - Knight, Matthew M.

AU - Meech, Karen J.

AU - McNeill, Andrew

AU - Pfalzner, Susanne

AU - Raymond, Sean N.

AU - Snodgrass, Colin

AU - Trilling, David E.

AU - Ye, Quanzhi

PY - 2019/7/1

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N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

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DO - 10.1038/s41550-019-0816-x

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VL - 3

SP - 594

EP - 602

JO - Nature Astronomy

JF - Nature Astronomy

IS - 7

ER -

The natural history of ‘Oumuamua

Abstract

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