There are 3 more books in the series but not written by Clarke, written by Gentry Lee, his co-author for the other books.............
Posted on 02/06/2023 7:58:53 AM PST by BenLurkin
The origins of Comet 96P/Machholz (96P) have puzzled scientists for decades since its discovery. It is a four-mile-wide “sungrazer” object with a host of weird properties that suggest it may be an interloper from another star system. For instance, 96P’s composition is extremely unique and its orbit is highly tilted, causing it to pass closer to the Sun than almost any other comet.
These features, among others, suggest that 96P may have been rerouted into our solar system by a chance encounter with Jupiter after its voyage across interstellar space. In an ironic twist, however, the comet's interactions with Jupiter have obscured its backstory and raised the possibility that its oddities could simply point to an origin in an unusual part of our own solar system, or as part of a local celestial body that broke apart.
96P was first discovered by the amateur astronomer Donald Machholz, who spotted it with binoculars from California in 1986. More recent observations have revealed that the object is bizarrely depleted in common materials, like carbon and cyanogen, and does not appear to possess the dusty atmosphere, or “coma,” seen around other comets in the solar system.
These features hint that the comet might be a completely stripped down nucleus with a “primordial and possibly…interstellar origin,” according to a 2019 study in Astrophysical Journal, co-authored by Knight, that was based on observations of 96P’s 2017 perihelion.
Those observations also revealed that the comet’s colors appear similar to those of ‘Oumuamua, which was the first unambiguous interstellar object ever seen in the solar system. ‘Oumuamua hurtled through our system in late 2017, and also displayed weird features and motions that led to some speculation that it was a piece of alien technology, though most scientists think it had a natural origin
(Excerpt) Read more at vice.com ...
Causing? How would a orbit at a large angle to Eart's orbital plane cause it to have a smaller perihelion distance?
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That was a great novel. It’s worth a re-read.
I just finished the 3rd book of the series...................
““the object is bizarrely depleted in common materials, like carbon””
The sentence continues and ends with “and cyanogen”. Never heard that word before.
Yes. I figure the substance is either bad, or good. Depends on whether it’s an election year.
They write these as if our solar system is static. When the reality is we are corkscrewing through who knows what all and that things can be collected along the way. It may not have moved in on us, we may have ran it over and picked it up like a nail in a tire. Kind of scary actually, we are a crash ready to happen at any moment as we corkscrew through the galaxy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuaPyQFrYk
“I figure the substance is either bad, or good. “
It’s in wikipedia. No mention of a role in our environment. It’s poisonous.
Oumuamua, stupid PC name.
Papa-papa-papa-oom-muh-muh-muh-muh
Papa-oom-mow-mow
Papa-oom-mow-mow
Papa-oom-mow-mow
Dit-dit-dit
I think I read #1 & #2. Gonna have to take a trip to the bookstore.
There are 3 more books in the series but not written by Clarke, written by Gentry Lee, his co-author for the other books.............
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