On Saturday, December 2, 2017 at 8:49:51 PM UTC-7, Mike_Duffy wrote:
It just seems
strange to me that the very first time we ever see an object from outside
of our Solar System, is passes closer to the Sun than any object within our
Solar System.

The perihelion of 'Oomuamua is 0.25534 AU, which is indeed within the orbit of
Mercury (semi-major axis, 0.387 AU). However, the perihelion of Icarus is 0.1867
AU, so there are objects in our Solar System that pass closer to the Sun than it
did.

John Savard