A meteorite from outside our solar system crashed into Earth in January 2014 off Papua New Guinea. The interstellar meteor known as CNEOS 2014-01-08 is believed to be the first known interstellar object that actually exists on earth. The meteorite was first identified as “coming from an unbound hyperbolic orbit with 99.999% percent confidence” by physicists Amir Siraj and Abraham Loeb of Harvard University. Based on catalog data on the object’s orbit, both Siraj and Loeb concluded that the object may be traveling beyond our solar system due to its unusually high heliocentric velocity. However, Siraj and Loeb’s paper remains unpublished as NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies database did not reveal how accurate the measurements are. However, their claim was backed up by US Space Command Chief Scientist Joel Moser in April 2021 after reviewing the classified data in question. He confirmed that the velocity estimate reported to NASA is accurate enough to indicate an interstellar orbit. This led Siraj and Loeb to hunt down the object and study it up close. Find out how researchers would find CNEOS 2014-01-08.
How will they find the meteorite?
According to Universe Today, most of the meteorite burned up during its descent into Earth’s atmosphere, leaving behind only fragmented meteorites. However, satellite tracking data combined with wind and ocean current data can give a reasonable search area as small as 10 km by 10 km. The fragments are expected to be magnetic so they can be retrieved from the ocean floor. Siraj and Loeb have even proposed doing so and have also partnered with an ocean technology consultancy to make it happen. According to Universe Today, Loeb said: “Universe Today last year, Loeb explained that such a search could offer us “an opportunity to put our hands on the relic and figure out if it’s natural, if it’s rock or if you know, a small fraction of them [interstellar objects] it may be artificial’.
