For the first time in history, scientists analyzed materials from a meter-size object that originated from outside the solar system.

The object lit up the sky over the Pacific Ocean nearly a decade ago and its bright fireball was tracked by US government satellites. The interstellar expedition team of the Galileo Project just completed the early analysis of 57 spherules from the crash site of the first recognized interstellar meteor, IM1. Five of these millimeter-size marbles originated as molten droplets from the surface of IM1 when it was exposed to the immense heat from the fireball generated by its friction on air on January 8, 2014. Altogether, about 700 spherules were collected by an expedition to the Pacific Ocean on June 14–28, 2023. Technical details and supporting information can be found in a scientific paper, which was submitted for publication in a prestigious peer-reviewed journal.

The IM1 Spherules from the Pacific Ocean Have Extrasolar Composition