Interstellar object ’Oumuamua

The first interstellar object from beyond our solar system was discovered via the Pan-STARRS astronomical observatory in Hawaii in 2017 and named ‘Oumuamua. It was like a comet, but with features that were just odd enough to defy classification. ASU astrophysicists, Steven Desch and Alan Jackson, set out to explain the odd features of ‘Oumuamua and have determined that it is likely a piece of a Pluto-like planet from another solar system. Their findings were published in a pair of papers (part I and part II) on March 16, 2021 in the AGU Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. Read more about this research on ASU News: