That interstellar asteroid could be a shard of a shredded planet

'Oumuamua may not be the only one of its kind — ‘Oumuamua may not be the only one of its kind

By Leah Crane

Our solar system’s first interstellar visitor may be a shard of a larger planet that got shredded by its star.

Astronomers spotted a strange, fast-moving object in October that seems to be an interloper from beyond our solar system. Named ‘Oumuamua, it seems to be a cigar-shaped rock that tumbled into our neighbourhood from around another star.

Now, researchers are trying to figure out where ‘Oumuamua came from and how it formed. Matija Cuk at the SETI Institute thinks it may have been born when a planet about 10 times the size of Earth got too close to its small, dense star and was shredded to bits. The debris could have been punted away by the gravitational tug of a second orbiting star.

If ‘Oumuamua is typical of the population of rocks that travel from star to

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