LONDON, Ont. - Astonishingly, not one but two interstellar asteroids have been detected entering our solar system since 2017.
The first was given the Hawaiian name 'Oumuamua, meaning 'messenger from afar,' after its discovery by Canadian astronomer Robert Weryk. The second, 2I/Borisov, was named for its discoverer Gennadiy Borisov.
Paul Wiegert from Western University's Institute for Earth & Space Exploration is now tracing the origins of these far-travelling bodies with his former undergraduate student Tim Hallatt, the lead author on the paper, now a graduate student at McGill University.
Preliminary findings from the Western-led team were submitted today to Astronomical Journal.
"Our solar system is big. It contains all the planets and asteroids, everywhere we've ever been or sent a spacecraft to," explains Hallatt. "But our galaxy is truly vast. It's more than 100,000 times bigger than our solar system. The Milky Way Galaxy contains all the stars we can see on a clear night plus their solar systems. When a visitor from the wider galaxy passes through our solar system, we know we have an unprecedented opportunity to study something special."
