Interstellar object ‘Oumuamua covered in 'thick crust of carbon-rich gunk'

Cigar-shaped body has a deep surface layer made of organic ices baked in interstellar radiation - and potentially has ice in its heart, say astronomers

The mysterious interstellar object 'Oumuamua that is shooting through our solar system is wrapped in a thick coating of carbon-rich gunk that built up on its cosmic travels, astronomers have found.

New observations of the cigar-shaped body found evidence for a deep surface layer that formed when organic ices - such as frozen carbon dioxide, methane and methanol - that make up the object were battered by the intense radiation that exists between the stars.