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ʻOumuamua: our first confirmed interstellar visitor

Started by Will, Mon, 11 Dec 2017 18:09


Phil Bunch

Thanks for the info and links.

I see that it is moving fast, according to its Wikipedia entry:

"It has a hyperbolic excess velocity (velocity at infinity) of 26.33 km/s (58,900 mph), its speed relative to the Sun when in interstellar space."

Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia for generic asteroids:

"The minimum impact velocity on Earth is 11 km/s with asteroid impacts averaging around 17 km/s."

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I'm not sure how to relate "hyperbolic excess velocity" to earth impact velocity.  Perhaps as a first approximation one needs to add the earth's orbital velocity to the hyperbolic excess velocity...
Best wishes,

Phil Bunch