Cosmic cigar

Why scientists still can't solve the curious case of 'Oumuamua

Mystery around the cigar-shaped alien visitor endures.

ESO/K. Meech et al.

On September 9, 2017, a rocky, elongated body visited our solar system from beyond the realms of the Sun — the first-ever recorded interstellar object to cruise through our part of the galaxy.

'Oumuamua was like nothing astronomers have observed before, not quite a comet nor an asteroid. They could not agree on where it came from or what it was made of.

They still can't.

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