Article by Kaylum Jetha
Two researchers say a meteor that crashed into Earth five years ago may be the only known object to visit our planet from beyond the solar system. They say it could be from a solar system light years away.
Harvard University professor Abraham Loeb and undergraduate student Amir Siraj quickly became interested in a particular one that slammed into Earth over Papua New Guinea on January 8, 2014.
e duo noticed the meteor had an unusually high rate of velocity, clocking in at 37 miles per second, which was too great of a speed for it to have been gravitationally tied to our sun’s orbit, According to National Geographic.
Taking the object’s high velocity and trajectory, the researchers determined the meteor likely came hurtling toward Earth from another solar system light years away.