The cigar-shaped object, which is the first object discovered that is believe to have originated from outside the Solar System, has fascinated astronomers since it was discovered in October last year. Now astronomers from Harvard University say they have found four other candidates similar to Oumuamua. Oumuamua was about 21million miles away from the Sun and heading on a trajectory out of the Solar System when it was first detected in 2017.
The dark red object is similar to those found in the furthest parts of the outer Solar System but due to the speed it is rotating scientists predict that it is impossible it started life within the Sun’s gravitational reach.
It is thought to be very dense and metal rich but its system of origin and length of time spent travelling through space is unknown.
Now, in a paper submitted to the ArXiv preprint repository, academics Amir Siraj and Abraham Loeb said there could be dozens more objects similar to Oumuamua soon to be detected.
They wrote: “We find that four known objects have orbital parameters indicating their possible interstellar origin: 2011 SP25, 2017 RR2, 2017 SV13 and 2018 TL6.
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“Out of the entire population of trapped interstellar objects, we estimate that there are 66 interstellar objects, ranging in diameter from ∼100m to ∼10km, detectable by Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST).”
The telescope is currently being built in the mountains of Chile, one of the spots on Earth with the darkest night sky and therefore ideal for stargazing.
Once construction finishes in 2022 the LSST’s purpose will be to identify asteroids which could come within a threatening distance of Earth by mapping the entire night sky every three nights for 10 years.
The LSST, which is essentially the world’s largest and most powerful digital camera, will be able to spot 90 percent of near-Earth objects larger than 140metres in diameter.
Siraj and Loeb believe the telescope will also be able to help astronomers detect even more objects that have entered the Solar System from elsewhere.
The pair of scientists based the findings of their paper on the space phenomenon called centaurs.
Centaurs are unusual objects which behave similarly to asteroids and comets and have eccentric orbits unlike the regular circular orbits of planets.
The largest, known as 10199 Chariklo, is estimated to be more than 150 miles across meaning it can be classified as a minor planet.