The 400-metre-long object is the first confirmed interstellar body to visit our solar system. When carbon-rich ice is baked in interstellar radiation, it creates a layer of “organic gunk,” she added. The telescopes found no signs of rocky minerals or ice on the surface, but did find evidence for the carbon-rich crust. The researchers went on to compare the measurements of ‘Oumuamua with those taken from asteroids and comets circling in our own solar system. They found that ‘Oumuamua resembles the so-called Trojan asteroids near Jupiter, but also objects in the Kuiper belt beyond Neptune, the most distant planet in the solar system.

Source: The Guardian December 18, 2017 15:56 UTC