Oumuamua - A Visitor from Far Far Away

nivek

As Above So Below
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Diagram showing the path of A/2017 U1 — an object likely of interstellar origin — through the inner solar system. A/2017 U1 made its closest approach to the sun on Sept. 9 and is now zooming away 97,200 mph (156,400 km/h) relative to the sun.

Original Image
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech


Visitor from Far, Far Away: Interstellar Object Spotted in Our Solar System

A visitor from interstellar space has likely been spotted in our solar system for the first time ever.

The object, known as A/2017 U1, was detected last week by researchers using the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii.

"We have been waiting for this day for decades," Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at the NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement.

"It's long been theorized that such objects exist — asteroids or comets moving around between the stars and occasionally passing through our solar system — but this is the first such detection," Chodas added. "So far, everything indicates this is likely an interstellar object, but more data would help to confirm it."

Chodas and other researchers base this preliminary conclusion on A/2017 U1's hyperbolic orbit — the fact that its path is taking the body out of the solar system. Other hyperbolic objects have been spotted before, but they were nudged onto escape trajectories by gravitational interactions with planets, said Matthew Holman, director of the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the organization responsible for collecting data about asteroids and comets in our solar system.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Too bad they couldn't use a probe to get pieces from it.

It would have been awesome if we could drop a probe on one of those 'visitors' and let it travel with it to collect more data...
 

CasualBystander

Celestial
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CasualBystander

Celestial
they should name it NIBIRU just to mess with that crowd!
Sure, why not. But it looks like they are going with Oumuamua.

Karen Meech explains the significance: "This unusually large variation in brightness means that the object is highly elongated: about ten times as long as it is wide, with a complex, convoluted shape. We also found that it has a dark red colour, similar to objects in the outer Solar System, and confirmed that it is completely inert, without the faintest hint of dust around it."

These properties suggest that `Oumuamua is dense, possibly rocky or with high metal content, lacks significant amounts of water or ice, and that its surface is now dark and reddened due to the effects of irradiation from cosmic rays over millions of years. It is estimated to be at least 400 metres long.

The interesting part is there was no outgassing, which is consistent with my dark red spacecraft theory.
 

CasualBystander

Celestial
Someone called "Infinite Bastard" commented:

Reminds me of that Mass Effect line that if you don’t aim properly, your rail gun attack can ruin somebody’s day 10,000 years from now.
 

nivek

As Above So Below



The first time I read about this I considered that possibility it could be a spacecraft flying through our system...We will never know for sure, but we can't discount the possibility of a spaceship...It could be a ship following a predetermined path with people in stasis using cryogenic technology...
 

nivek

As Above So Below
We will never get a high resolution image of this thing, it was too far away and it's gone forever now...
 

nivek

As Above So Below
The spacefaring Mayans look like Oompa Loompas.

What we saw could have been camouflage, give the appearance of a cigar shaped rock to protect the passengers inside...
 
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