Interstellar Object Travelling Through Solar System: 1I/2017 U1 "Oumuamua"

[SPCTRE]

How is there no thread on how fucking cool this is?

Nature: A brief visit from a red and extremely elongated interstellar asteroid

LA Times: Meet 'Oumuamua, the interstellar asteroid, before it's gone for good

Astronomers have spotted an unprecedented interplanetary traveler: an asteroid-like object that came from far beyond our own solar system.

The discovery of ‘Oumuamua, described in the journal Nature, marks the first time that researchers have identified an interstellar object — and it could mean that there are many more already in our solar system just waiting to be found.

The fast-moving space rock, known formally as 1I/2017 U1, was spotted Oct. 19 by Robert Weryk of the Institute for Astronomy using the Pan-STARRS1 telescope system, which is hunting for near-Earth objects that could be hazardous to our planet. After looking back in the archive, astronomers soon realized their cameras had already picked up 1I/2017 U1 the night before. More telescopes quickly joined in the fray.

“Even with a little bit of data, this … was really unusual,” said lead author Karen Meech, a planetary astronomer at the Institute for Astronomy.

‘Oumuamua quickly revealed itself to be new to the neighborhood. It had a highly eccentric path — one that didn’t appear to be a closed orbit at all. It was also coming in from above the plane of the solar system, and its path showed that it hadn’t passed close to any of the known planets.

“Its orbit shape means it is not gravitationally bound to our solar system,” Meech said. “Now the sun certainly influenced its orbit because it passed close to it … [but] had this passed much farther from the sun, it could have effectively gone through our solar system on a straight path with no change.”

‘Oumuamua appears to be long and thin, like a cigar, about a quarter-mile long and a tenth as wide. Because it dramatically brightened by a factor of 10 and them dimmed on a regular cycle, astronomers could tell that it spun like a pencil placed flat on a table. When the narrow shaft faced Earth, it looked dim. When its long body faced Earth, offering up more surface area to reflect sunlight, it looked brighter. The object completed one of these rotations every 7.3 hours.

“We don’t have anything in the solar system that’s got this shape,” Meech said.

‘Oumuamua appears to have a reddish hue, much like the material in our own solar system. That could mean that, like many of our own asteroids, it’s also covered in organic, carbon-rich material.

 

[Beagleman]

I just read about it this morning and yes, this is fucking cool!

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Reminds me of Rama. Pity we can't get a good image of it. Although I very much doubt it is anything except natural in origin, it would be interesting to know how it retains its integrity given its shape and spin rate.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

This is... wow.

Is there an explanation for the oblong shape?

 

[Christopher]

An anomalous object made of metal, cylindrical in shape, speeding through the Solar System from interstellar space, changing course via a slingshot around the Sun? If ever there was anything we detected that might be an alien spaceship, it's this. Although I guess the fact that it's spinning and covered in organic compounds kind of argues against that. Unless it's spinning for artificial gravity...? And the reddish hue is paint...?

Okay, probably not, but I'm a science fiction writer, so I can't help but imagine the possibilities. Although of course Arthur C. Clarke beat me to it by decades.

 

[O_Kav]

Phew! Thank god we still have whales around.

 

[Santaman]

It is the big brother of the Black Knight Satellite!

Seriously, very awesome! I do hope we can get a good look at it before it disappears.

 

[StarCruiser]

It's just what's left of a smaller one of these:

You know, after the Empire got done with it...

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Small Culture GSV

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Small Culture GSV

Size Isn't Everything, Youthful Indiscretion, or No More Mr Nice Guy perhaps.

 

[SPCTRE]

This is... wow.

Is there an explanation for the oblong shape?

not yet - it is highly unusual

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

not yet - it is highly unusual

The theories so far invoke debris ejected from the core of two colliding planets or core ejecta from a planet destroyed by a supernova explosion. Seems it can't be a rubble pile because of the spin rate so it probably has a partly metallic composition to give it some structural integrity.

ETA: The object has come from the approximate direction of Lyra, which is the direction in which the solar system is moving. There are several supernova remnants in that approximate direction, not to mention Tabby's Star, although I'm not going to make anything out of that - we're bound to see a larger incidence of extra-system objects in the direction of motion.

 

[SPCTRE]

The theories so far invoke debris ejected from the core of two colliding planets or core ejecta from a planet destroyed by a supernova explosion. Seems it can't be a rubble pile because of the spin rate so it probably has a partly metallic composition to give it some structural integrity.

hopefully we'll get enough heads-up with a future interstellar object for a closer examination, even though that's the tricky part given how dark they are

 

[Pure Antiproton]

I also read that scientists think our system may get visited approximately once per year by one of these extra-solar objects. It's amazing to think.... Wasn't too long ago and we had only ever seen stars, nebula, quasars out there and now we are seeing planetary systems everywhere. Love it.

 

[psCargile]

I would have named it Nibiru.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I half expect a former poster to turn up and claim he deflected the object with a laser ripped from a Blu-ray player and a magic amplifying lens - well that, or magnets - how do they work?

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I half expect a former poster to turn up and claim he deflected the object with a laser ripped from a Blu-ray player and a magic amplifying lens - well that, or magnets - how do they work?

OMG haha.......

In the first picture that came with the article which was an artist impression of the object it did look kind of like the Millennium Falcon after a bit of a prang.

Now it would have been totally hilarious had the object slowed down and parked in orbit of Earth. Totally would have been fun.

Well the explanation for that at least would have been.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

OMG haha.......

In the first picture that came with the article which was an artist impression of the object it did look kind of like the Millennium Falcon after a bit of a prang.

Now it would have been totally hilarious had the object slowed down and parked in orbit of Earth. Totally would have been fun.

Well the explanation for that at least would have been.

Well, if that happened, either the Russians or Chinese with the ability to put men in orbit would likely get to call dibbs on first contact and access to advanced tech. Or get blasted and invaded as the assumed major power, of course...

 

[uniderth]

Proof that the Lyran Wars actually happened.

*ufo sound*

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[XCV330]

Well, if that happened, either the Russians or Chinese with the ability to put men in orbit would likely get to call dibbs on first contact and access to advanced tech. Or get blasted and invaded as the assumed major power, of course...

There's almost always an X-37b in orbit now.