# Phan 2021: Erosion of Icy Interstellar Objects by Cosmic Rays and Implications for 'Oumuamua

> Vo Hong Minh Phan, Thiem Hoang, Abraham Loeb, 2021. 2 records on Mysteries Department cite it. A second objection to the nitrogen-ice reading.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CSKBK6P4SVT/erosion-of-icy-interstellar-objects-by-cosmic-rays-and  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[1I/'Oumuamua](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oumuamua)Phan 2021

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# Erosion of Icy Interstellar Objects by Cosmic Rays and Implications for 'Oumuamua

Vo Hong Minh Phan, Thiem Hoang, Abraham Loeb, 2021. _arXiv_.

Computes cosmic-ray and gas erosion of icy bodies in interstellar space and finds that a nitrogen fragment would have to start at least 0.5 km across to survive a 0.5-billion-year trip, worsening the mass budget.

**1I/'Oumuamua** PreprintChecked against the original0

## What it's used for here

A second objection to the nitrogen-ice reading.

## Cited by on this site 2 records

[Cosmic-ray erosion means the fragment must have started at least 0.5 km across, worsening the budget.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oumuamua/evidence/EVD0CSKC4HC3GAX/cosmic-ray-erosion-means-the-fragment-must-have-started-at)

Evidence

EVD

[1I/'Oumuamua](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/oumuamua)

The mystery article

MYS

## Cite it

```
Phan, V. H. M., Hoang, T., & Loeb, A. (2021). Erosion of Icy Interstellar Objects by Cosmic Rays and Implications for 'Oumuamua. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.04494
```

[Read it free at arxiv.org](https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.04494)

Key

**SRC** 0CSKBK6P4SVT

Kind

Preprint

Rights

arXiv-nonexclusive

Kept

27 Oct 2026, for editors

Checked

Against the published original

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

Bibliographic records are CC0. Take this one as CSL-JSON, BibTeX or RIS.

[CSL-JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CSKBK6P4SVT/erosion-of-icy-interstellar-objects-by-cosmic-rays-and/csl.json)