Posted on 12/20/2017 6:44:36 AM PST by blam
Observations of the oblong interstellar traveler Oumuamua have revealed an unidentified organic coating on it, igniting scientific and public curiosity alike. After “Oumuamua” was initially spotted by a telescope in Hawaii by the Pan-STARRS project on October 19, experts raced to gather all possible information on it before it passed beyond humanity’s collective reach. But, while they expected to find a comet-like chunk of ice passing by our sun, the object mysteriously failed to leave behind a vapor trail as it grazed our home star. Instead, the still-unidentified chunk of ancient space debris hurtling at 60,000 MPH through our solar system left us with a host of new questions.
First, Oumuamua is exceptionally long and narrow — roughly 400 by about 40 meters. The shape is unlike any asteroids in our own solar system. Paul Chodas, Manager of NASA’s Centre for Near Earth Orbit Studies, called it “a strange visitor from a faraway star system, shaped like nothing we’ve ever seen in our own solar system neighborhood.”
Second, the lack of a comet-like tail of vaporized ice — despite passing even within Mercury’s orbit — seems to be the result of unknown organic matter which shields its internal ice from the sun’s immense heat. Also, it’s red. And while some observations tagged it as similar to the shades we see from minerals present in our own system, others suggest that it is significantly darker.
Queen’s University Belfast’s Dr. Michele Bannister of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey called Oumuamua “the opposite” of what she was “expecting we might see.” To her, it is the familiar aspects of the object that intrigue. “It’s travelled for millions or billions of years – it could be older than our solar system. …It’s come from a very long way away
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(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Leading Astronomers: Oumuamua Is ‘Alien Probe With Broken Engines,’ Could Have Hostile Intentions
Alien Probe or Galactic Driftwood? SETI Tunes In to 'Oumuamua [pronounced 'Yo Mama']
Meet 'Oumuamua! The 1st Interstellar Visitor Ever Seen Gets a Name
Must prepare by watching 1950s Si-Fi- movies!
Indeed.
L
They’ve decrypted some words inscribed on the outside of the object. Looks like it says ‘how to serve man’.
Is there any reason the object must have an internal ice core? Couldn't the object be composed solely of various types of rock?
I see from an internet search that the object is classified as an asteroid, not a comet. So it very well might have no ice.
Ancient DNC event?
Sounds like the name of a Pink Floyd album!
“Organic shell”? Could it be a sea shell from space? Dr. Doolittle was in search of a giant pink sea snail, IIRC.
....or future................
“Oumuamua” my be how it would sound if you tried to say Obama’s name while drunk.
about time for another remake of The Blob methinks
Very true.
Rama
Could be a cocoon or an egg case.
Interesting but so far unexplained aspect is that it apparently entered the system at 26 kilometers per second, much slower than its exit speed of 87KmS, but did not pass close enough to any large body/planet to have picked up that speed. See: "Interstellar" Asteroid Raises Mysteries
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