FILE PHOTO: This artist's impression shows the first-known interstellar object to visit the solar system, 'Oumuamua, which was discovered in 2017. European Southern Observatory/M. Kornmesser/ Handout via REUTERS.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A reddish-colored cigar-shaped interstellar object called 'Oumuamua that is tumbling through our solar system may be wreckage from a planet ripped apart when it roamed too close to the faraway star it once orbited, according to researchers.
Scientists have been puzzled by the origin and nature of 'Oumuamua since its discovery in 2017, with some even proposing it may be an alien spacecraft. Astronomers Yun Zhang and Doug Lin, in research published this week, said computer simulations indicated it was a remnant of a planet or planetary building block annihilated by a star's "tidal forces."
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