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Alien Probe or Galactic Driftwood? SETI Tunes In to 'Oumuamua [pronounced 'Yo Mama']
Scientific American ^

Posted on 12/11/2017 11:18:16 AM PST by BenLurkin

Oumuamua appeared to have been dropped in on our solar system from some great interstellar height, picking up even more speed on a slingshot-like loop around the sun before soaring away for parts unknown. It is now already halfway to Jupiter, too far for a rendezvous mission and rapidly fading from the view of Earth’s most powerful telescopes.

Astronomers scrambling to glimpse the fading object have revealed additional oddities. ‘Oumuamua was never seen to sprout a comet-like tail after getting close to the sun, hinting it is not a relatively fresh bit of icy flotsam from the outskirts of a nearby star system. This plus its deep red coloration—which mirrors that of some cosmic-ray-bombarded objects in our solar system—suggested that ‘Oumuamua could be an asteroid from another star. Yet those same observations also indicate ‘Oumuamua might be shaped rather like a needle, up to 800 meters long and only 80 wide, spinning every seven hours and 20 minutes. That would mean it is like no asteroid ever seen before, instead resembling the collision-minimizing form favored in many designs for notional interstellar probes. What’s more, it is twirling at a rate that could tear a loosely-bound rubble pile apart. Whatever ‘Oumuamua is, it appears to be quite solid—likely composed of rock, or even metal—seemingly tailor-made to weather long journeys between stars. So far there are few if any wholly satisfactory explanations as to how such an extremely elongated solid object could naturally form, let alone endure the forces of a natural high-speed ejection from a star system—a process thought to involve a wrenching encounter with a giant planet.

...

Avi Loeb, an astrophysicist and Breakthrough advisor at Harvard University who helped persuade Milner to pursue the observations, is similarly pessimistic about prospects for uncovering aliens. There are, he says, arguments against its artificial origins. For one thing, its estimated spin rate seems too low to create useful amounts of “artificial gravity” for anything onboard. Furthermore, ‘Oumuamua shows no sign of moving due to rocketry or other technology, instead following an orbit shaped by the gravitational force of the sun. Its speed relative to the solar system (about 20 kilometers per second) also seems rather slow for any interstellar probe, which presumably would cruise at higher speeds for faster trips between stars. But that pace aligns perfectly with those of typical nearby stars—suggesting ‘Oumuamua might be merely a piece of galactic “driftwood” washed up by celestial currents.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Science
KEYWORDS: amirsiraj; asteroid; astronomy; aviloeb; c2017u1; harvard; hyperbolic; interstellar; interstellarobject; jasonwright; oumuamua; pyomama; science; shmuelbialy; yurimilner
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1 posted on 12/11/2017 11:18:16 AM PST by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

I swear it’s a lost battlestar!


2 posted on 12/11/2017 11:19:59 AM PST by MeganC (Democrat by birth, Republican by default, Conservative by principle.)
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To: BenLurkin

https://youtu.be/2WNrx2jq184


3 posted on 12/11/2017 11:20:29 AM PST by rfp1234 (I have already previewed this composition.)
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To: BenLurkin

“Oumuamua, I’ve come to bargain.” — Dr. Strange


4 posted on 12/11/2017 11:23:05 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (Benedict McCain is the worst traitor ever to wear the uniform of the US military.)
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To: BenLurkin

They are looking for Chuck Berry.


5 posted on 12/11/2017 11:23:08 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: BenLurkin

Sign: Oumuamua
Countersign: Papaoommamowmow


6 posted on 12/11/2017 11:24:07 AM PST by Huaynero
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To: BenLurkin

You post a lot of interesting articles. Are you a scientist?


7 posted on 12/11/2017 11:24:30 AM PST by be-baw
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To: BenLurkin

not the Borgs’ intergalactic spaceship. just one of its local shuttlecraft. trying to return their advance wrecking party (Obama) to his home planet IslamoSphere


8 posted on 12/11/2017 11:26:26 AM PST by faithhopecharity (“Politicians aren’t born, they’re excreted.” - Marcus Tillius Cicero (3 BCE))
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To: BenLurkin

The Ramans do everything in threes. So more to come.


9 posted on 12/11/2017 11:31:03 AM PST by samtheman (Liberalism is a mental disease.)
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To: be-baw

I am not now, nor have I ever been, a scientist.


10 posted on 12/11/2017 11:31:32 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

11 posted on 12/11/2017 11:33:21 AM PST by GodBlessRonaldReagan (The jolly, candy-like button!)
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To: Huaynero

Obamaumau


12 posted on 12/11/2017 11:37:09 AM PST by ichabod1 (Smoke does not mean fire when someone threw a smoke grenade.)
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To: BenLurkin

Yes, but did you stay at a Holiday inn last night?


13 posted on 12/11/2017 11:40:14 AM PST by Redcitizen
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To: BenLurkin
Its the The Chtaptisk Fithp ("Traveler Herd") on their space ship the Thuktun Flishithy ("Message Bearer").
14 posted on 12/11/2017 11:40:26 AM PST by DCBryan1 (No realli, moose bytes can be quite nasti!)
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To: GodBlessRonaldReagan

Thanks ... I was trying to remember the name of that book.


15 posted on 12/11/2017 11:40:47 AM PST by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: BenLurkin

Berserker?


16 posted on 12/11/2017 11:43:06 AM PST by Seruzawa (TANSTAAFL!)
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To: Redcitizen; be-baw

I post hoping knowledgable Freepers (of which there are many) will chime in.


17 posted on 12/11/2017 11:44:26 AM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin
It's a Bug Meteor from Klendathu!


18 posted on 12/11/2017 11:52:26 AM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts (Ban pre-shredded cheese now! Make America Grate Again.)
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To: BenLurkin
'Oumuamua [pronounced 'Yo Mama']

More like "Yonada" …

19 posted on 12/11/2017 11:53:48 AM PST by mikrofon (Meandering Monday BUMP)
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To: BenLurkin
RAMA!.........................
20 posted on 12/11/2017 11:57:24 AM PST by Red Badger (Road Rage lasts 5 minutes. Road Rash lasts 5 months!.....................)
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