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ʻOumuamua facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

ʻOumuamua (Hawaiian: first messenger arriving from afar) is an object from another star system that visited our solar system. Its official name is 1I/2017 U1.

ʻOumuamua is the first interstellar object that we know has passed through our solar system. Oumuamua was first discovered on 19 October 2017 using the Pan-STARRS1 telescope at the Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii.

Its appearance is long and narrow, and it had a dark red color, similar to objects in the outer Solar System.

Images for kids

  • Oumuamua orbit at perihelion

    Hyperbolic trajectory of ʻOumuamua through the inner Solar System with the Sun at the focus (animation)

  • Oumuamua magnitude 2015-2019

    ʻOumuamua has faded into the 34th magnitude as of 2020.

  • Oumuamua-skypath

    Seen from Earth, the apparent trajectory makes annual retrograde loops in the sky, with its origin in Lyra, temporarily moving south of the ecliptic between 2 September and 22 October 2017, and moving northward again towards its destination in Pegasus.

  • Oumuamua-solar system-ecliptic-normals

    ʻOumuamua's hyperbolic trajectory over the Solar System

  • Comet 20171025-16 gif

    Animation of ʻOumuamua passing through the Solar System

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: 1I/ʻOumuamua para niños

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ʻOumuamua Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.