Mysterious interstellar object may have altered solar system orbits, study says

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A massive interstellar object passing through our solar system during its formative years likely altered the orbits of planets into trajectories observed today, a new study says. An interstellar object between 2 to 50 times the mass of Jupiter passing through the solar system provides a better explanation, the study says. Artist’s depiction of interstellar comet Oumuamua The massive object flew through the solar system at a velocity of about 6km per second, coming within 20 astronomical units of the sun and shaping the orbits of the gas giant planets into what we see now. “We demonstrate a single encounter with a 2–50 Jupiter-mass object, passing through the solar system at a perihelion distance less than 20AU and a hyperbolic excess velocity less than 6km per second, can excite the giant planets’ eccentricities and mutual inclinations to values comparable to those observed,” the study states.