Strangely strong interstellar meteorites may come from supernovae
The two interstellar meteorites identified so far seem to be significantly stronger than local meteorites, which may mean they formed in supernovae
Space
2 January 2023
Meteorites that come from outside our solar system could be formed in supernovae Shutterstock/Marko Aliaksandr
Interstellar meteorites may be even stranger than we thought. They seem to be stronger than meteorites produced in our own solar system, which hints that they could have formed in a supernova or some other extreme cosmic event.
These interloping rocks are swift – any meteorite travelling at a high speed compared to the sun may come from beyond our solar system, and its origin can be confirmed by calculating the direction it came from.