Astronomers have found the first interstellar organics on asteroid
MOSCOW, 18 Jul — RIA Novosti. The surface of the asteroid Omoloi, the first interstellar “guest” of the Solar system, was covered with a thick layer of organic matter, which protects the ice from evaporation under the action of the Sun’s rays, according to a paper published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
“We found that the surface Omwamwi similar in structure and composition to the small celestial bodies of the Solar system, is covered by ice-rich organic matter, which are constantly bombarding cosmic rays. This “crust” of organic matter are two feet thick protected the depths of the asteroid, rich in ice, from evaporation under the action of sunlight, despite the fact that it was heated to a temperature of 300 degrees Celsius,” says Alan Fitzsimmons (Alan Fitzsimmons) from Queen’s University in Belfast (UK).
Two months ago, the participants of the project Pan-STARRS aimed at finding near-earth asteroids, told the world about the incredible discovery they discovered the first celestial body, flown into the Solar system from the interstellar medium. Initially they considered his discovery of a comet and gave her a cipher (a temporary name) C/U1 2017.
Before she left the immediate surroundings of the Sun and Earth, astronomers from all over the world have time to fully study this heavenly body. They collected data pointed to the fact that it is more like an asteroid than a comet, as it has no tail, and the density is significantly above the typical values for comets. For this reason, it received the official name 1I/U1 2017 and while the informal “nickname” Omwamwi, “scout” in the language of the people of Hawaii.