"Since then, they've been using powerful telescopes to study the mysterious object, trying to understand its unusual composition and exact origins. Most agree that it's probably a comet, albeit an unusual one, though at least one has posited that it could be a remnant of an advanced extraterrestrial civilization - a colorful claim, but one that NASA has disputed as a flight of fancy."
"It's an intriguing hypothesis that could potentially solve more than one mystery surrounding our understanding of how planets form over millions of years, and one that would make these lonely objects traveling vast distances far more influential than previously thought. According to our current theory of planet formation, smaller particles lump together to form larger objects and eventually planet-sized bodies, a process known as accretion."
An interstellar object entered the inner solar system and has been observed with powerful telescopes to determine composition and origin. Observations indicate it is most likely an unusual comet, though at least one alternative hypothesis proposed an artificial remnant, which NASA disputed. Models show that interstellar objects passing through protoplanetary accretion discs can be captured by the discs' gravity. Captured objects can serve as large seeds inside the disc, bypassing collisional growth barriers and enabling faster formation of planet-sized bodies. This mechanism could explain the presence of relatively large gas giants around very young, higher-mass stars.
Read at Futurism
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]