When the Oumuamua interstellar object was discovered in 2017, there soon were theories about its composition and origin. Now, it seems NASA is very interested in gathering concrete data.
On January 16, 2019, the head of Harvard University’s astronomy department, Prof. Abraham Loeb, gave an interview where he defended his controversial paper that the interstellar object detected by a Hawaii-based telescope could be a spacecraft.
Detected for the first time in October 2017, the asteroid Oumuamua was originally given the formal designation of 1I/2017 U1. Astronomers had long awaited the arrival of the first object from another solar system. So they initially gave it the informal name of Rama, after the derelict spacecraft depicted in Arthur C. Clark’s 1973 novel, “Rendezvous with Rama” that was spotted after passing close by the Earth. But given that the interstellar object was discovered by the Pan-STARRS telescope at Haleakala Observatory on the Hawaiian island of Maui, two Hawaii culture experts were consulted. They named it Oumuamua – Hawaiian for “scout or messenger from distant past reaching out to us.” The images taken by the Hubble and Pan-STARRS telescopes were quite faint, so not much could be learned about Oumuamua’s geometry and composition. Nevertheless, the initial artist's depiction was of it being a long cigar-shaped object that was turning and rolling along its interstellar orbital path as though violently ejected from some distant stellar event that occurred in the remote past.
What really attracted scientific attention was when Oumuamua accelerated as it approached the sun according to data provided by the Hubble telescope in June 2018. While acceleration is normal for comets that have long icy tails that ignite thereby propelling the comet forward, Oumuamua was no comet. Somehow the sun’s solar energy appeared to be accelerating Oumuamua. This led to Prof. Loeb and his colleague from the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Dr. Shmuel Bialy, speculating that Oumuamua may have contained a solar sail and was therefore being charged up and accelerating as it received the solar energy. They presented their conjecture in a paper titled, “Could Solar Radiation Pressure Explain Oumuamua’s Peculiar Acceleration?”
Considering an artificial origin, one possibility is that ‘Oumuamua is a light sail, floating in interstellar space as a piece of debris from advanced technological equipment. The light sail technology might be abundantly used for the transportation of cargo between planets or between stars. In the former case, dynamical ejection from a planetary system could result in space debris of equipment that is not operational anymore and is floating at the characteristic speed of stars relative to each other in the solar neighborhood. This would account for the various anomalies of Oumuamua, such as the unusual geometry inferred from its lightcurve, its low thermal emission, suggesting high reflectivity, and its deviation from a Keplerian orbit without any sign of a cometary tail or spin-up torques.
Alternatively, a more exotic scenario exposed by Bialy and Loeb is that ‘Oumuamua may be a fully operational probe sent intentionally to Earth's vicinity by an alien civilization.' Perhaps Prof.Loeb and Dr. Bialy may have been made aware of such extraordinary information and presented their Oumuamua spacecraft hypothesis to open the minds of incredulous colleagues.
As a result, in 2022 NASA proposed an exploration of Oumuamua in order to determine its composition and origin. This article by Forbes, titled NASA To ’Oumuamua? The New 22 Year Mission To The Extraordinary Object Said To Be An ‘Alien Solar Sail’ gives a brief synopsis of the ambitious project.
NOTE: What are your thoughts on Oumuamua? Is it a natural interstellar object or a possible probe by an alien civilization? Lon
If you wish to comment on this Phantoms & Monsters post, please go to Phantoms & Monsters Post Comments
.jpg)
-----
-----
Have you had a sighting of a winged humanoid or huge bat-like creature in the Chicago, Illinois metro area / Lake Michigan region? The entity has also been referred to as the 'Chicago Mothman', 'Chicago Owlman' & 'O'Hare Mothman.' - Chicago / Lake Michigan Winged Humanoid Regional Interactive Map - Please feel free to contact me at lonstrickler@phantomsandmonsters.com - your anonymity is guaranteed. Our investigative group is conducting a serious examination of his phenomenon. We are merely seeking the truth and wish to determine what eyewitnesses have been encountering. Your cooperation is truly appreciated.
-----
-----
.jpg)
Please Consider a Donation to 'Phantoms & Monsters'
Your financial support of Phantoms & Monsters and our other pursuits is much appreciated. This all depends on you, the readers & followers.
Please use the PayPal donation buttons on the blog site. You can also go directly to Phantoms & Monsters donation. Thanks again for your loyalty and continued support. Lon
%20(1).gif)
