7 of the Oddest Things about 'Oumuamua Other than Its Name

interestingengineering.com/ ^ | December, 28th 2018 | Christopher McFadden

[BenLurkin]

1. We have absolutely no idea where it came from

2. We don't really know what it looks like

...tumbling through space and appears to be, more or less, cigar-shaped.... about 10 times longer than its width.

..object's brightness (or amount of reflected sunlight) varied by a factor of 10 every eight hours or so. This strongly implies that 'Oumuamua has an extremely elongated shape.

3. 'Oumuamua got a little speed boost as it approached us

Observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories noticed that its acceleration increased which slightly changed its course from what was initially predicted.

“Our high-precision measurements of Oumuamua’s position revealed that there was something affecting its motion other than the gravitational forces of the Sun and planets,"

"This additional subtle force on ‘Oumuamua likely is caused by jets of gaseous material expelled from its surface. This same kind of outgassing affects the motion of many ..."

4. It's the first interstellar object we've managed to observe

5. We don't really know what it's made of

...some scientists have considered classifying the object as an asteroid. But, as described above, it may have kicked off some dust particles and/or gases, giving rise to a small speed boost at some point during its approach.

We do know that it is highly reflective. Especially given its relatively small size.

When compared to other solar system-type asteroids 'Oumuamua is at least ten times more reflective.

6. It's not going to stay around

7. It shows we are not really prepared for future Earth impacts

Its apparent near-Earth trajectory was also something of a worry. Whilst we've 'gotten away with this one', if it had hit Earth, it would have easily erased an entire city.

[BenLurkin]

Great post. Thanks.

[amorphous]

YW, Thanks for posting the good stuff! I grow tired of 24/7 polyticks.