This is our first confirmed visitor from another solar system, NASA says

A newly discovered object from another star system passing through our galaxy is dazzling scientists.

This week, astromers have been observing this first-ever confirmed interstellar visitor. NASA has released a video showing an artist’s concept of the object.

New data reveal the interstellar interloper to be a rocky, cigar-shaped object with a somewhat reddish hue, NASA reported.

“What a fascinating discovery this is!” said Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. “It’s a strange visitor from a faraway star system, shaped like nothing we’ve ever seen in our own solar system neighborhood.”

The interstellar visitor has an approved name: Oumuamua (OH'-moo-ah-moo-ah), which in Hawaiian means a messenger from afar arriving first.

This story was originally published November 21, 2017 at 10:40 AM with the headline "This is our first confirmed visitor from another solar system, NASA says."