Object Oumuamua's bizarre shape

[westmarch]

Fascinating observations but I bet the flying saucer brigade will be out in force on this.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42053634

John

[John]

Interstellar sausage ?

 

[Phil Fargaze]

Bizarre indeed. My first impression was that it is a shard of brittle material from a huge collision between two rocky objects. Although a theory put forward in the BBC article has it starting out molten and being stretched into its elongated shape which seems more plausible. If only we had more time to study it!

[Dave In Vermont]

No 'saucer-people' have checked-in yet. Unless you can count the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from NASA. Here's the JPL's take on this fascinating guest:

Solar System’s First Interstellar Visitor Dazzles Scientists.pdf

 

 

Looks like it could be a rather rusted starship.....

Dave

[Pete Presland]

Some fabulous images doing the rounds in the media and the descriptions of Oumuamua were just as interesting. "A dense, comprised of rock and possibly metals, has no water or ice, and that its surface was reddened due to the effects of irradiation from cosmic rays over long periods of time". 

 

[chiltonstar]

"Rendezvous with Rama" comes to mind!

Chris

[Ouroboros]

I wonder whether its shape is the result of it being a fragment of some cataclysmic event that gave it sufficient kinetic energy to escape the gravitation of the star system it came from. 

Do we have any idea how frequently these interstellar visitors pass by? If they're relatively frequent it might be worth having a probe ready for interception. 

[furrysocks2]

2 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

I wonder whether its shape is the result of it being a fragment of some cataclysmic event that gave it sufficient kinetic energy to escape the gravitation of the star system it came from. 

Do we have any idea how frequently these interstellar visitors pass by? If they're relatively frequent it might be worth having a probe ready for interception. 

https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/faq/interstellar

Two month observation window, nearly twice the velocity of Voyager 1. Expectation is that these are relatively common - "several times a year"...?

 

Cool stuff.