Posted on 11/05/2018 12:53:27 PM PST by ETL
NASA may have ruled that Oumuamua, the first interstellar object ever spotted in our system is a "metallic or rocky object" approximately 400 meters (1,312 feet) in length and 40 meters (131 feet) wide, but a new study from the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics says it could be something much more exciting – it could be "a lightsail of artificial origin" sent from another civilization.
The study, which was posted online earlier this month, suggests that Oumuamua's strange "excess acceleration" could be artificial in nature, as it has been implied that it is not an active comet.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
"Considering an artificial origin, one possibility is that ‘Oumuamua is a lightsail, floating in interstellar space as a debris from an advanced technological equipment," researchers wrote in the paper.
The paper continues: "Lightsails with similar dimensions have been designed and constructed by our own civilization, including the IKAROS project and the Starshot Initiative. The lightsail technology might be abundantly used for transportation of cargos between planets or between stars."
They even theorized that Oumuamua "may be a fully operational probe sent intentionally to Earth vicinity by an alien civilization," though that scenario was called "exotic."
The paper was written by postdoctoral researcher Shmuel Bialy and professor Abraham Loeb, the director at the CfA's Institute for Theory and Computation.
Other studies have suggested that other "Oumuamua-like objects" will potentially enter our solar system, with some potentially carrying life.
"The likelihood of Galactic panspermia is strongly dependent upon the survival lifetime of the putative organisms as well as the velocity of the transporter," according to a paper published in The Astronomical Journal by Manasvi Lingam and the aforementioned Loeb.
It might be a lightsail sent by aliens! Wow! Ow wait, it could also just be a big metallic rock. Hmmm, I wonder which it is?
Asimov wrote a short story about Light sailing. I believe involved a race around Saturn or Jupiter, It was something like a solar system America’s cup. Ship I think was called “Diana”.
This is probably someone needed a publication for tenure.
Or it could be “caca de toro.”
Another illegal alien Caravan? Will it never end?
Don’t let the Qidiots see this article. They’ll insist it’s aliens.
Hahaha. I do wish FR had a like button
So now they will find out we’re here when that thing gets back to base ... in a million years ... by which time we should have much better ways of fighting back.
#WALLAROUNDEARTH
Hmmm. Lightsail! Yeah, that's the ticket!
Yeah, the Moties have gone Crazy Eddie
From Sept...
Scientists have uncovered the truth about a mysterious space rock called Oumuamua which has been hurtling through Earth’s solar system and was spotted last year.
A group of acclaimed astronomers, including members from NASA, the European Space Agency and the German Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, released a report this week on the origins of the cigar-shaped asteroid which was first observed in October 2017.
The name Oumuamua is Hawaiian for “messenger from afar arriving first” and was named by the site who first spotted it.
According to the report, “a fast moving object on an unbound orbit was discovered close to the Earth” by a high-powered telescope, located in Hawaii.
The report claims Oumuamua is a metallic or rocky object, approximately 400 metres in length and about 40 metres wide.
It has a “comet-like density” and a dark red surface.
“(The red surface suggests) either an organic-rich surface like that of comets and outer solar system asteroids, or a surface containing minerals with nanoscale iron, such as the dark side of Saturn’s moon Iapetus,” the report said.
The report suggested Oumuamua left its home millions of years ago and was likely sent on its lonely journey when it was “ejected during planet formation and migration” and has been linked to four possible star systems.
It was also calculated that Oumuamua moved faster than the existing laws of celestial mechanics.
The report has been accepted into The Astrophysical Journal.
The discovery of Oumuamua sparked international debate when it was first discovered, as scientists struggled to explain what exactly the long, thin asteroid was and why it was flying so close to Earth.
The discovery even prompted suggestions that the rock was actually an alien spaceship or probe, used to explore our solar system.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
lightsail : considered probable
fully operational satellite : improbable
In October 2017, a fast moving, cigar-shaped comet of extrasolar origin was discovered close to the Earth with the Pan-STARRS1 telescope in Hawai’i. Officially named 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua), the comet was presumably ejected from a forming planetary system, probably by a gravitational kick from a giant exoplanet. Now, using data from ESA’s star-mapping Gaia satellite, Dr. Coryn Bailer-Jones of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and co-authors have identified four stars as possible homes of ‘Oumuamua.
http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/oumuamua-home-stars-06451.html
We’ll probably never know.
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