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Interstellar Comet Oumuamua is Smaller than Previously Thought, Has Highly Reflective Surface
Sci-News.com ^ | Nov 16, 2018 | News Staff / Source

Posted on 11/16/2018 8:43:45 AM PST by ETL

‘Oumuamua was first detected by the University of Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS 1 telescope on Haleakala, Hawaii, in October 2017 while the telescope was surveying for near-Earth asteroids.

Subsequent detailed observations conducted by multiple ground-based telescopes and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope detected the sunlight reflected off ‘Oumuamua’s surface.

Large variations in the object’s brightness suggested that ‘Oumuamua is highly elongated and probably less than 2,600 feet (800 m) in its longest dimension.

But NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope tracks asteroids and comets using the infrared energy, or heat, that they radiate, which can provide more specific information about an object’s size than optical observations of reflected sunlight alone would.

The fact that ‘Oumuamua was too faint for Spitzer to detect sets a limit on the object’s total surface area.

However, since the non-detection can’t be used to infer shape, the size limits are presented as what ‘Oumuamua’s diameter would be if it was spherical.

Using three separate models that make slightly different assumptions about the object’s composition, Spitzer’s non-detection limited ‘Oumuamua’s spherical diameter to 1,440 feet (440 m), 460 feet (140 m) or perhaps as little as 320 feet (100 m).

The wide range of results stems from the assumptions about ‘Oumuamua’s composition, which influences how visible (or faint) it would appear to Spitzer were it a particular size.

(Excerpt) Read more at sci-news.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Chit/Chat; Science
KEYWORDS: asteroid; astronomy; aviloeb; harvard; oumuamua; science; xplanets; yurimilner
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Image result for Interstellar Comet Oumuamua is Smaller than Previously Thought, Has Highly Reflective Surface
An artist’s impression of 'Oumuamua'
1 posted on 11/16/2018 8:43:45 AM PST by ETL
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I increasingly am suspecting that this object is a piece of interstellar waste material, perhaps from a race of alien giants, destined to eventually get flushed down a black hole/space toilet.

Image result for Oumuamua

Image result for toilet flush gif

2 posted on 11/16/2018 8:44:05 AM PST by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)
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To: ETL

3 posted on 11/16/2018 8:47:50 AM PST by z3n
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To: ETL

It is made of unsold Collector’s Mint Commemorative Plates.


4 posted on 11/16/2018 8:48:19 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: ETL

aka “Yourmama”


5 posted on 11/16/2018 8:48:42 AM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy (Liberals have become moralistic, dogmatic, sententious, self-righteous, pinch-faced prudes.)
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To: z3n
I'm wondering if this mysterious object, "Oumuamua", was named after Obama. It does remind me of him.

Image result for Interstellar Comet Oumuamua is Smaller than Previously Thought, Has Highly Reflective Surface
An artist’s impression of 'Oumuamua'

6 posted on 11/16/2018 8:51:09 AM PST by ETL (Obama-Hillary, REAL Russia collusion! Uranium-One Deal, Missile Defense, Iran Deal, Nukes: Click ETL)
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To: z3n

“No big deal!”


7 posted on 11/16/2018 8:51:56 AM PST by 4yearlurker ("There stands mother under the oleanders,open the windows." A dying cowboys last words,1879.)
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To: ETL

I also suspect that this is where all of those unsold K-Tel albums went.


8 posted on 11/16/2018 8:55:01 AM PST by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: ETL
I'm wondering if this mysterious object, "Oumuamua", was named after Obama. It does remind me of him.

An astronomical piece of shit.
9 posted on 11/16/2018 8:56:09 AM PST by farming pharmer
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To: z3n

Lol, my first thought too


10 posted on 11/16/2018 8:57:49 AM PST by RightGeek (FUBO and the donkey you rode in on)
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To: ETL

LOL!!


11 posted on 11/16/2018 9:00:16 AM PST by V_TWIN (Contrary to popular belief Height does not = superiority.....physical OR mental.)
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To: ETL

12 posted on 11/16/2018 9:02:13 AM PST by fishtank (The denial of original sin is the root of liberalism.)
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To: SunkenCiv

*flying space turd ping*


13 posted on 11/16/2018 9:04:10 AM PST by fieldmarshaldj ("It's Slappin' Time !")
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To: ETL
Cigar shaped? Oblong? Highly reflective? I've seen this movie...................
14 posted on 11/16/2018 9:07:37 AM PST by Red Badger (We are headed for a Civil War. It won't be nice like the last one....................)
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To: ETL
How are they kidding? We all know what it is....

15 posted on 11/16/2018 9:08:00 AM PST by TheDon (MAGA!)
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To: ETL

“Oumuamua may be up to 10 times more reflective (has a higher albedo) than the comets that reside in our Solar System”

With looks like that it better have a higher albedo or it will never get laid


16 posted on 11/16/2018 9:08:56 AM PST by mistfree (It's a very uncreative man who can't think of more than one way to spell a word.)
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To: TheDon

Who...


17 posted on 11/16/2018 9:09:09 AM PST by TheDon (MAGA!)
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To: Army Air Corps

We go to thrift shops on the weekends, Goodwills, Salvation Army and local churches.

There are many, many of those ‘collector plates’ there................


18 posted on 11/16/2018 9:09:45 AM PST by Red Badger (We are headed for a Civil War. It won't be nice like the last one....................)
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To: ETL; Daffynition
However, since the non-detection can’t be used to infer shape...

It's one of the mysteries of life - you just have to take it on faith.

That *is* the message from beyond. Simple meaning, innit? No wonder it sailed right by..

It's like Mechizedek. Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life...

Or like the manna, "What is it?"

Secrets of the universe, living parables. Never enough popcorn.


19 posted on 11/16/2018 9:12:42 AM PST by Ezekiel (All who mourn(ed!) the destruction of America merit the celebration of her rebirth.)
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To: ETL

It's the Doomsday Machine.

20 posted on 11/16/2018 9:14:13 AM PST by red-dawg (Climate change caused the end of the Ice Age. Did man play a part in it?)
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