# Release of molecular hydrogen made by cosmic rays inside an ordinary water-ice body, freed as the ice warmed…

> Still possible: Release of molecular hydrogen made by cosmic rays inside an ordinary water-ice body, freed as the ice warmed and annealed near the Sun.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oumuamua/answers/ANS0CSKC5106PB2/release-of-molecular-hydrogen-made-by-cosmic-rays-inside-an  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[1I/'Oumuamua](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oumuamua)[What pushed 'Oumuamua away from the Sun?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oumuamua/questions/QST0CSKBZDA67JF/what-pushed-oumuamua-away-from-the-sun)Answer

Answer · 1I/'Oumuamua

# Release of molecular hydrogen made by cosmic rays inside an ordinary water-ice body, freed as the ice warmed…

Release of molecular hydrogen made by cosmic rays inside an ordinary water-ice body, freed as the ice warmed and annealed near the Sun.

**Still possible** Answers **1** questionPublished0

## Where it stands

**Still possible** Its tests haven't settled it: two pieces of evidence for, one against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- Laboratory-irradiated water ice releases enough trapped hydrogen over the right temperature range.
- Other long-irradiated icy bodies (dark comets, distant comets) show hydrogen-driven accelerations.
- A future analogue outgasses molecular hydrogen with little dust.

## What would rule it out

- A thermal model including evaporative cooling, run on the published code, that gives a hydrogen yield too small for the push.

## Evidence 2 for · 1 against

[Laboratory work shows hydrogen is produced in irradiated water ice and released over a range of temperatures;…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oumuamua/evidence/EVD0CSKC58T2VP1/laboratory-work-shows-hydrogen-is-produced-in-irradiated)

Supported

FOR

[The model code and data are public, so the cooling objection can be tested directly.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oumuamua/evidence/EVD0CSKC5RE13DK/the-model-code-and-data-are-public-so-the-cooling-objection)

Speculative

FOR

[Cooling by the escaping hydrogen would cut the volume of warm ice and the gas budget by a factor of five to…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oumuamua/evidence/EVD0CSKC5GM545A/cooling-by-the-escaping-hydrogen-would-cut-the-volume-of)

Suggestive

AGAINST

## The questions it answers

[What pushed 'Oumuamua away from the Sun?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oumuamua/questions/QST0CSKBZDA67JF/what-pushed-oumuamua-away-from-the-sun)

Open8 answers, none ahead

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Release of molecular hydrogen made by cosmic rays inside an ordinary water-ice body, freed as the ice warmed… [Answer ANS0CSKC5106PB2]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0CSKC5106PB2
```

Key

**ANS** 0CSKC5106PB2

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Origin

Published

Version

1

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