At last something that actually came from a galaxy far far away.
A cigar-shaped interstellar asteroid named “Oumuamua” could be an alien starship, according to researchers in the Seti Institute (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence).
First spotted in mid-October by Astronomers at the University of Hawaii, this asteroid is currently twice the distance between the Earth and Sun, or two astronomical units.
Estimated at 400m in length and traveling at an estimated 25.5km per hour, Oumuamua is the first object to be discovered in the solar system that could have come from a different part of the galaxy. What’s more, the speed that it is travelling at has led researchers to speculate that it is not gravitationally bound to the sun and is set to leave the solar system.
One previous theory was that Oumuamua was once a planet ten times the size of Earth, but was partially destroyed when it got too close to its own star.
Now, it is suggested by Seti that this might not be what everyone initially believed, as the institute prepares to turn a dish telescope towards Oumuamua.
That interstellar asteroid could be a shard of a shredded planet – Institute scientist Matija Cuk thinks it may have been born when a planet about 10 times the size of Earth got too close to its small, dense star and was shredded to bits. Read more: https://t.co/Fu32znZJzh pic.twitter.com/GGKfrTHlSh
— The SETI Institute (@SETIInstitute) December 11, 2017
In a statement by the Seti project Breakthrough Listen announced, “Researchers working on long-distance space transportation have previously suggested that a cigar or needle shape is the most likely architecture for an interstellar spacecraft, since this would minimise friction and damage from interstellar gas and dust.
“While a natural origin is more likely, there is currently no consensus on what that origin might have been, and Breakthrough Listen is well positioned to explore the possibility that Oumuamua could be an artifact.”
Seti’s dish telescope will start to “listen” to the mysterious object at 8pm on Wednesday, 13 December in order to determine if it is an extraterrestrial starship, while also searching for information on its gases or the presence of water, because it’s always good to have a plan B.
Speaking about this planned study, Dr. Andrew Siemion, director of the Berkeley Seti Research Centre in California, said, “Oumuamua’s presence within our solar system affords Breakthrough Listen an opportunity to reach unprecedented sensitivities to possible artificial transmitters and demonstrate our ability to track nearby, fast-moving objects.
“Whether this object turns out to be artificial or natural, it’s a great target for Listen.”
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