Interstellar objects are certainly not easy to find, as, by definition, they usually exist beyond the boundaries of a solar system. These space objects consist of asteroids or comets. Humanity has officially discovered only two interstellar objects so far: Borisov and ‘Oumuamua.
However, interstellar objects might have come passing by without the world even having a clue. Surely you’ve seen some of the numerous craters that exist on the Moon. If you haven’t seen them in the numerous photos that exist online, you can always feast your eyes on them by simply grabbing and using binoculars. The Moon is teeming with craters. Ring a bell?
Interstellar objects might have been smashing into the Moon
New research brings the possibility that interstellar objects might have contributed to the craters of our natural satellite in the past. What’s for sure is that the Moon has its craters due to numerous space rocks smashing into it during its long history of 4.5 billion years. While the majority of those asteroids and comets came from our own Solar System, the new study that space.com tells us about implies that other space rocks slamming into the Moon might have had different origins.
Sam Cabot, who’s a Ph.D. candidate at Yale University and also the lead author of the study, explained for the publication mentioned earlier:
Given the number of ISOs that we expect to encounter in the solar system, there are probably a few craters that were formed by very high-speed ISOs throughout the solar system, and there are probably one or two on the moon.
What’s perhaps even more interesting is that scientists might be able to discover more about the composition of interstellar objects by exploiting a crater from the Moon that was formed after an impact with such a space rock.
Stay tuned for more news on the subject!
