Astronomers have observed what they believe to be the first interstellar object entering the solar system from elsewhere in our galaxy. The small asteroid or comet – designated A/2017 U1 -- is an estimated 400m in diameter and moving remarkably fast at 25.5km/s.
It was first detected on October 19th by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, during a routine search for near-Earth objects. The extreme orbit of the object, nearly perpendicular to the ecliptic plane , led researchers to conclude that it likely originated from beyond our solar system. On October 14th, A/2017 U1 passed within 24 million kilometers of Earth (~60x the distance to the Moon) on its way back to interstellar space.
Source: https://goo.gl/Dv7BAv (NASA)
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