ʻOumuamua is the first known interstellar object detected passing through the Solar System. Formally designated 1I/2017 U1, it was discovered by Robert Weryk using the Pan-STARRS telescope at Haleakalā. In fact, when 'Oumuamua was closest to Earth, it was tumbling through the inner Solar System at 196,000 miles per hour (87.3 kilometers per second), according to NASA. That is over 3 times faster than the average speed of a main-belt asteroid. Despite this, almost 4 years later, 'Oumuamua is still in our Solar System. Image via Josh Spradling/ The Planetary Society. In this scenario, 'Oumuamua was like a comet in that it was icy, with some of that ice sublimating near the sun, but it was composed of ice not seen in comets in our solar system. On the outward leg of its journey through the Solar System, ʻOumuamua passed beyond the orbit of Earth on 14 October with a closest approach distance of approximately 0.1618 AU (24,200,000 km; 15,040,000 mi) from Earth. After ruling out effects from “solar-radiation pressure, drag- and friction-like forces, interaction with solar wind for a highly magnetized object, and geometric effects” due to the shape of the asteroid, they concluded that Oumuamua accelerated due to “comet-like outgassing.” This means that Oumuamua vents gases. It will travel beyond Saturn's orbit in January 2019; as it leaves our solar system, 'Oumuamua will head for the constellation Pegasus. Preliminary orbital calculations suggest that the object came from the approximate direction of the bright star Vega, in the northern constellation of Lyra. It's named Oumuamua, Hawaiian for scout, in honor of the observatory in Hawaii that discovered it in 2017. These new findings suggest 'Oumuamua was shaped more like a pancake than a cigar. It may also be smaller than previously thought — just 147 by 144 by 24 feet (45 by 44 by 7.5 meters) in size when astronomers first detected it. The distance of Asteroid 1I/2017 U1 (Oumuamua) from Earth is currently 4,448,596,173 kilometers, equivalent to 29.737029 Astronomical Units. 'Oumuamua is the first confirmed interstellar visitor to our home solar system ever. Its visit has both excited and scared many scientists and the general public since it was first detected. 'Oumuamua hit the headline back in 2017 when it was first detected by the Pan-STARRS telescope.

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