This Week at NASA: That Odd Interstellar Asteroid and More

New data reveal that the interstellar asteroid that recently zipped through our solar system is rocky, cigar-shaped, and has a somewhat reddish hue.
It’s the first confirmed object from another star observed in our solar system, and was discovered Oct. 19 by the University of Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS1 telescope team, funded by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations Program. The telescope team named it ‘Oumuamua (oh MOO-uh MOO-uh) – Hawaiian for “a messenger from afar arriving first.” The unusually-shaped asteroid, which is up to a quarter mile long and perhaps 10 times as long as it is wide, may provide new clues into how other solar systems formed. Also, Advanced Weather Satellite Launched, James Webb Space Telescope Completes Final Cryogenic Testing, Recurring Martian Streaks: Flowing Sand, Not Water? and Happy Thanksgiving, from Space.