We can never really do more than speculate about this mysterious object that seemed to have hurtled into the solar system out of nowhere — unless we send something out there to investigate.

There have been opinions on that. Some scientists think it’s too late to launch a spacecraft that will catch up with the thing, which is speeding through the void at about 57,000 mph and shows no signs of slowing down. Then there are those who think we could catch up.

‘Oumuamua, the first object known to have come from beyond the solar system, might have gotten its oblong shape when a planet was shredded by a faraway star.

An unusual visitor cruised through the solar system in late 2017—a small, rocky object that did not hail from Earth’s neighborhood, but was born in a star system far, far away.

The interstellar visitor—named ‘Oumuamua by the team that discovered it, which roughly translates from Hawaiian as “a messenger from afar arriving first”—provided more than a few puzzles.

First spotted by the Pan-STARRS project at the Haleakalā Observatory in Maui, the tumbling object accelerated in ways that could not be explained by gravity alone. And based on the light it reflected, ‘Oumuamua appeared to be an elongated, cigar-shaped object—a shape unlike anything seen in our own solar system.

New computer simulations reveal a possible origin story for this strange interstellar object: A world was ripped to pieces by its home star, leaving behind a wake of long, thin fragments. Some of these fragments would have been launched into interstellar space, and millions—perhaps billions—of years later, ‘Oumuamua reached our solar system.

The simulations point to three possible types of home systems for ‘Oumuamua, and the work explains both the elongated shape and curious motion of the interstellar visitor.

“’Oumuamua provides a lot of problems to explain its origin,” says Yun Zhang, a researcher at the Côte d’Azur Observatory in France and lead author of a study on the simulations published today in Nature Astronomy. “Before our study, no solution can produce such an elongated shape.”

A mystery from beyond
Astronomers have always suspected that interstellar objects were traipsing through our solar system—it was just a matter of time until we spotted one. But they guessed those objects would look more like the recently discovered interstellar comet Borisov. A disintegrating world with an icy halo, Borisov looks like the frozen objects of the outer solar system.

“With Borisov, we get exactly what we expect an interstellar visitor would act like and do. Everything about it is completely ordinary,” says Greg Laughlin, a professor of astronomy at Yale University. “And that’s a startling contrast with ‘Oumuamua, where literally nothing about ‘Oumuamua was ordinary.”

As late as last year, ‘Oumuamua’s origin was still a mystery, but, “all these puzzles can be solved by our scenario,” Zhang says.

American and British scientists from the research organization Initiative for Interstellar Studies created the Project Lyra program to study the asteroid ‘Oumuamua in detail.

According to their version, the probe, which will be launched in 2028, will catch up with the target in 26 years.

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The device will be able to take pictures, with the help of which it will be possible to understand that this is an alien ship or an ordinary wandering space boulder.

Back in 2017, an object called Oumuamua flew through the solar system. It flew very far and very fast, so astronomers could not investigate it, and for five years now they have been scratching their heads – is it an alien ship or an asteroid.

An incomprehensible guest, moving at a speed of 100 thousand kilometers per hour, rushed towards the Sun and was noticed by astronomers from the University of Hawaii.

Astronomers from various countries have calculated its trajectory. It is hyperbolic, which suggests that the mysterious object is moving from somewhere else. The translation from the Hawaiian Oumuamua literally sounds like “the messenger who came first from afar.”

The shape of the object did not resemble an asteroid and its behavior was strange. It did not fly along a ballistic trajectory, but accelerated at times, as if someone turned the engine on and off.

The scientists recalled the science fiction novel Rendezvous with Rama, written by Arthur C. Clarke. He was describing an object that had also appeared in the solar system and was spotted by the Space Patrol. This time something similar happened in reality.

They also believe that Oumuamua reflects too much light, which means it is not made of stone and dustless like an asteroid. Karen Meech, a researcher at the Hawaiian Institute of Astronomy, said the object has a complex metallic shape, characteristic of interplanetary spacecraft.

Avi Loeb, an academic professor of astronautics, insisted that ‘Oumuamua was an unmanned ship or a damaged reconnaissance probe.

Now Oumuamua is flying to Pluto, and earth vehicles can reach it, the main thing is to choose the right time and the estimated speed of 133,200 kilometers per hour.

The launch is planned for 2028 and in 26 years the probe will see Oumuamua, take photographs and send them to Earth. The mystery will be revealed in 2056 if NASA supports the program of scientists.