Mysterious Space Object ‘Oumuamua Not Alien, Scientists Say...New study suggests a natural origin for unusual movement of the interstellar body

Wall Street Journal ^ | March 22, 2023 12:00 pm ET | By Aylin Woodward

[Red Badger]

Nearly six years ago, a space object roughly the size of a football field baffled scientists as it zipped through our solar system. The irregular shape and motion of the object, dubbed ‘Oumuamua, led to one of the most controversial astronomical mysteries, with theories that ranged from asteroid to alien probe.

But a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature offers another answer: ‘Oumuamua is a typical comet that expelled gas in an odd way as it traveled through our solar system.

“We’ve gone through every weird, crazy, possible theory—ideas that stretch the imagination to match all of these observed things, and then we figure out that it is just the simplest thing you could possibly imagine, which is just a water-rich comet,” said Darryl Seligman, a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell University and co-author of the new study.

Astronomers first spotted ‘Oumuamua at an observatory in Hawaii in October 2017 as it careened through the planetary neighborhood. It passed by the sun at speeds of nearly 196,000 miles an hour. The body’s trajectory indicated that it came from across the stars, having likely traveled for many millions of years before arriving.

Observatories on the ground and in space had just weeks to characterize the interstellar object before it made a hook turn past the sun and continued its high-speed journey back into the greater Milky Way, beyond the reach of our most powerful instruments.

In that short window of scrutiny, scientists could collect only a limited amount of information about the orbit, color, shape and brightness of the tiny ‘Oumuamua. Pronounced “oh moo-uh moo-uh,” the name in the Hawaiian language means a messenger from afar arriving first, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

[cgbg]

The history of science has been very clear on this point.

“Laws of Physics” are culture bound human laws.

The universe is an outlaw.

[Vaduz]

Messenger from afar arriving first.

If that’s their Enterprise it took a hell of a beating from the in flight objects.

Jim Jim Spock anybody alive................

[telescope115]

I’m gonna have to re-read Rama 1 and read Rama 2.

[BenLurkin]

Almost certainly natural, but this explanation for its bump in speed is speculative at best.

[SunkenCiv]

"Roswell was a smoke screen, we've had a half-a-dozen better salvage operations".

[SunkenCiv]

The rest of the keyword, sorted:

• Alien mothership may be sending probes to Earth, Pentagon UFO chief posits with Harvard professor in draft paper [03/14/2023]
• We May Have Had an Interstellar Visitor for Eons and Scientists Are Stumped [02/06/2023]
• Secret Government Info Confirms First Known Interstellar Object on Earth, Scientists Say [04/14/2022]
• An interstellar object exploded over Earth in 2014, declassified government data reveal [04/11/2022]
• Harvard Scientist Suggests That Our Universe Was Created in a Laboratory [10/17/2021]
• ALIEN VISITOR Mystery over origin of Oumuamua 'alien spaceship' that soared past Earth finally solved [06/02/2021]
• Extrasolar Object Interceptor Would be Able to Chase Down the Next Oumuamua or Borisov and Actually Return a Sample [05/15/2021]
• The Harvard Prof Who Insists We Are Not Alone [03/06/2021]
• Searching For Extraterrestrial Life Like 'Sherlock Holmes' [01/22/2021]
• Another "Oumuamua" Plot Twist: Leading Explanation For Interstellar Object Is Aliens Again [08/26/2020]
• A Cool Idea to Catch Up With an Interstellar Visitor [05/10/2020]
• Interstellar Comet Borisov Shines in Incredible New Hubble Photos [12/15/2019]
• Interstellar comet will pass close to Earth this weekend [12/07/2019]
• How two intruders from interstellar space are upending astronomy [11/21/2019]
• Here's the Picture We've Been Waiting for. Hubble's Photo of Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov [10/17/2019]
• Astronomers find cyanide gas in interstellar object 2I/Borisov [10/08/2019]
• First measurements of 'interstellar comet' [C/2019 Q4 (Borisov)] [09/18/2019]
• An interstellar comet looks to be heading our way [09/11/2019]
• Mysterious interstellar object Oumuamua is not an alien spaceship but scientists are still baffled [07/01/2019]
• Meteor that hit Earth came from beyond the solar system [04/21/2019]
• 'Oumuamua "Sped Up" in the Inner Solar System. This Might Be Why. [03/13/2019]
• 7 of the Oddest Things about 'Oumuamua Other than Its Name [12/29/2018]
• SETI Astronomers Find No Evidence for Artificial Transmitters on Oumuamua [12/09/2018]
• Mysterious interstellar object conundrum intensifies as NASA reveals it didn't originally see it [11/18/2018]
• Interstellar Comet Oumuamua is Smaller than Previously Thought, Has Highly Reflective Surface [11/16/2018]
• Scientists Now Say Interstellar Object May Have Been Alien Probe [11/07/2018]
• Scientists push back against Harvard 'alien spacecraft' theory [Oumuamua] [11/07/2018]
• Mysterious interstellar object could be 'lightsail' sent from another civilization [11/05/2018]
• NASA solves mystery of cigar-shaped UFO, believed to carry alien life [09/29/2018]
• Interstellar asteroid update [guess]: It's a comet! [06/28/2018]
• A star disturbed the comets of the solar system 70,000 years ago [03/20/2018]
• 1st Known Interstellar Visitor Gets Weirder: 'Oumuamua Likely Had 2 Stars [03/19/2018]
• Interstellar object Oumuamua tumbling chaotically [02/13/2018]
• Scientists Reveal Interstellar Object 'Oumuamua' Has Organic Shell [12/20/2017]
• Leading Astronomers: Oumuamua Is 'Alien Probe With Broken Engines,' Could Have Hostile Intentions [12/14/2017]
• Has an alien probe entered our solar system? Cigar-shaped interstellar 'comet' ... [12/12/2017]
• Alien Probe or Galactic Driftwood? SETI Tunes In to 'Oumuamua [pronounced 'Yo Mama'] [12/11/2017]
• Project Lyra, a Mission to Chase Down that Interstellar Asteroid [11/24/2017]
• Solar System's First Interstellar Visitor Dazzles Scientists [11/23/2017]
• ESO Observations Show First Interstellar Asteroid is Like Nothing Seen Before [11/20/2017]
• First interstellar asteroid is like nothing seen before [11/20/2017]
• Meet 'Oumuamua! The 1st Interstellar Visitor Ever Seen Gets a Name [11/16/2017]
• This mystery object may be our first visitor from another solar system [10/27/2017]
• Researchers observe the first known interstellar comet [10/26/2017]
• Wrong-Way, Daredevil Asteroid Plays 'Chicken' with Jupiter [03/30/2017]
• A close call of 0.8 light years [Nibiru?] [02/22/2015]
• Star Blasted Through Solar System 70,000 Years Ago [02/18/2015]

[gitmo]

Boy do we need him now.

“… and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20

[SunkenCiv]

The original was Tommy Dorsey's (I think, I didn't research this), but Spike Jones' version is the definitive version, better even than the Muppet Show version.

Spike Jones - "Hawaiian War Chant (Ta-Hu-Wa-Hu-Wai)" 1946
(Laughter does wonders for our health)
David Hannah | 4.29K subscribers | 9,895 views | March 6, 2020

[Telepathic Intruder]

I’m not talking about magic faster than light, But Oumuamua isn’t even going a significant fraction of it. It’s creeping along at a relative crawl you’d expect a common rock to do. It would take thousands of years for it to reach the closest star, if it were even aimed in that direction. There are nuclear designs on the books we could build right now that would go much faster than that, if NASA had the budget.

[minnesota_bound]

#9 They are on vacation in our system. They will kick in the warp drive when ready to leave : )

[minnesota_bound]

#48 The guys laughing face in the lower right!
He sort of looks like Buddy Hackett.