The curiosity of this object has become even greater when researchers at Queen’s University Belfast have noticed that it does not resemble any other spatial body observed so far.
Although it is a frozen body (as expected), it appears to be covered in organic matter that protects indoor water from being melted by the sun, according to a new study.
“What we have not seen was the clues of the rocks that we find on Earth or which we can find in asteroid belts”, said Alan Fitzsimmons, author of the study, writes The Independent.
“Looking at it, I realized that objects in the interstellar space were predicted to form a thick crust of ice”, the researcher added.
Apart from the study by Alan Fitzsimmons, who used spectroscopy and thermal modeling to determine the composition of the body, there was also the study by Michele Bannister, also from Queen’s University Belfast, who wanted to observe the object’s color. This study concluded that the object is red. What kind of red is extremely important and the nuances varied, the first observations having a darker shade, while others have shown a more neutral one. Neutral colors are also found in the objects we see in our Solar System.
Both researchers, however, state that there is a need for further studies of the data collected. Unfortunately, Oumuamua is already too far away for other observations, but it is argued that theoretically there are several such objects outside of the Solar System.
