# First object from another solar system **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 27, 2017, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014 "2017-10-27T19:55:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/1 "2017-10-27T19:55:28Z")
[This article](http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/27/us/mystery-object-solar-system-trnd/index.html). That would mean we may have spotted the first object from another solar system passing through ours. I didn’t realize such a thing had never been seen before. The article indicates it’s path around the sun is not consistent with anything that would be orbiting our sun and may have come from somewhere else. I am wondering though if it could have been the result of a collision of orbiting bodies in our solar system. Since it is passing through and heading to out of the solar system we may never know for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/2 "2017-10-27T20:27:11Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I didn’t realize such a thing had never been seen before. Space is very, very big and very, very empty. It is actually astounding (to me, at least) that an interstellar object this big is passing so close to Earth. It is a damn shame that we don’t have anything capable of chasing it down and sampling it. It could be many thousands of years before something like that happens again. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/3 "2017-10-27T20:40:44Z")
So long, A/2017 U1. We hardly knew you. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/4 "2017-10-27T20:44:07Z")
Can we name it _ **Rama** _? ---
**Author:** ![AI\_Proofreader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@AI\_Proofreader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AI_Proofreader)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/5 "2017-10-27T20:49:33Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > [This article](http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/27/us/mystery-object-solar-system-trnd/index.html). That would mean we may have spotted the first object from another solar system passing through ours. I didn’t realize such a thing had never been seen before. The article indicates it’s path around the sun is not consistent with anything that would be orbiting our sun and may have come from somewhere else. I am wondering though if it could have been the result of a collision of orbiting bodies in our solar system. Since it is passing through and heading to out of the solar system we may never know for sure. Very cool, thanks for sharing it. It couldn’t have been the result of colliding bodies within the solar system, since it came from outside the plane of the ecliptic. It’s possible two Oort Cloud bodies collided and flung a rock into the solar system; but the odds of that happening are pretty slim, since each comet is tens of millions of miles away from the others and the region is so vast (it stretches out in a sphere over a light year in every direction). Then again the odds of any interstellar object coming that close to Earth are really slim too, so either way is equally improbable, and equally cool. ---
**Author:** ![AI\_Proofreader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@AI\_Proofreader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AI_Proofreader)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/6 "2017-10-27T20:50:33Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Can we name it _ **Rama** _? Only if we find a way to rendezvous with it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/7 "2017-10-27T20:54:34Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Space is very, very big and very, very empty. It is actually astounding (to me, at least) that an interstellar object this big is passing so close to Earth. It is a damn shame that we don’t have anything capable of chasing it down and sampling it. It could be many thousands of years before something like that happens again. I wasn’t thinking about something coming that close to earth, but I suppose unless it was massively large it wouldn’t be spotted too far away. I figure something from outside the solar system has passed through ours, probably a lot of things, but it is a matter of actually spotting one. According to the[jpl.nasa page linked in the article](https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6983)it’s less than 1/4 mile across, and moving fast, I don’t know how far away we could detect an object like that. They seem surprised we haven’t identified one before (see quote), but then again our ability to spot such a thing is a recent development. > [@Karen Meech](#): > > We have long suspected that these objects should exist, because during the process of planet formation a lot of material should be ejected from planetary systems. What’s most surprising is that we’ve never seen interstellar objects pass through before. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/8 "2017-10-27T21:01:05Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Can we name it _ **Rama** _? > [@AI\_Proofreader](#): > > Only if we find a way to rendezvous with it. 🙂 I have no idea how much information we can collect about it. If there were another civilization sending probes out this looks like a path it might take. I kind of doubt it, but maybe someday that’s how a first contact begins. ---
**Author:** ![AI\_Proofreader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@AI\_Proofreader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AI_Proofreader)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/9 "2017-10-27T21:21:52Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I have no idea how much information we can collect about it. If there were another civilization sending probes out this looks like a path it might take. I kind of doubt it, but maybe someday that’s how a first contact begins. It would be a pretty good path for a general examination of the system. If they were interested in Earth in particular they probably would have aimed it a bit closer to us than 15 million miles. Assuming of course that their telescopes aren’t so much more advanced than ours that they can get really good images of us from that distance. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/10 "2017-10-27T21:24:28Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > They seem surprised we haven’t identified one before (see quote), but then again our ability to spot such a thing is a recent development. Playing around with numbers a bit–[the estimate is](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_comet) that there are between 1 trillion and 10 trillion interstellar comets per cubic parsec. One cubic parsec is 2.72x10[sup]17[/sup] cubic astronomical units. So the chance of any interstellar comet to randomly be within one AU of the Earth is from 1 in 272,000 to 1 in 27,200. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/11 "2017-10-27T21:36:06Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Playing around with numbers a bit–[the estimate is](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_comet) that there are between 1 trillion and 10 trillion interstellar comets per cubic parsec. One cubic parsec is 2.72x10[sup]17[/sup] cubic astronomical units. So the chance of any interstellar comet to randomly be within one AU of the Earth is from 1 in 272,000 to 1 in 27,200. So pretty lucky for astronomers that something came so close to Earth. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/12 "2017-10-28T09:12:03Z")
Nitpick: There isn’t “another solar system”. The Solar System is associated with the star Sol, of which there is only one. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/13 "2017-10-28T13:43:42Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Nitpick: There isn’t “another solar system”. The Solar System is associated with the star Sol, of which there is only one. Yes, the only people who would describe a group of planets orbiting a distant star as another solar system are–uh–every scientist and educated person on the fucking planet. ---
**Author:** ![AI\_Proofreader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@AI\_Proofreader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AI_Proofreader)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/14 "2017-10-28T13:46:50Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Nitpick: There isn’t “another solar system”. The Solar System is associated with the star Sol, of which there is only one. Something tells me that “solar system” will still be the common nomenclature even if we go off and colonize other stellar systems; the same way “Moon” became a general term for any smaller object orbiting a planet. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/15 "2017-10-28T14:03:32Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Nitpick: There isn’t “another solar system”. The Solar System is associated with the star Sol, of which there is only one. > [@AI\_Proofreader](#): > > Something tells me that “solar system” will still be the common nomenclature even if we go off and colonize other stellar systems; the same way “Moon” became a general term for any smaller object orbiting a planet. Notice that we capitalize our 'Solar System and our “Moon” but not the others. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/16 "2017-10-28T14:05:15Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Can we name it _ **Rama** _? There are _three_ of them??? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/17 "2017-10-28T14:05:46Z")
I think Extrasolar System is the proper term. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/18 "2017-10-28T14:37:33Z")
This is obviously a probe from the Klingon Empire. We should kill it with nuclear fire. . . . Oh, it’s going to pass us? Hell, we should study it then–just to make sure where the Kobayashi Maru ought _not_ to go. Tripler Just saying. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/19 "2017-10-28T15:49:24Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Nitpick: There isn’t “another solar system”. The Solar System is associated with the star Sol, of which there is only one. Your nitpick is incorrect. What great authority are you falling upon except a mistaken pet peeve? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014/20 "2017-10-28T16:01:42Z")
How do we know that it wasn’t kicked out of the Oort Cloud by a passing massive object? (That in itself would be interesting.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-object-from-another-solar-system/800014.md?page=2)