Listening to ‘Oumuamua

[John]

Apparently astronomers are going to spend a little time checking this interstellar visitor for "transmissions":

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/11/astronomers-to-check-interstellar-body-for-signs-of-alien-technology

 

[MarsG76]

Very interesting.. imagine they actually detected a transmission... nah

 

[Floater]

32 minutes ago, MarsG76 said:

Very interesting.. imagine they actually detected a transmission... nah

Can’t properly attribute this, but there are two possibilities: ‘we are either alone in the universe or we are not. Each is equally terrifying’.

Nuff said. ??

[MarsG76]

Just now, Floater said:

Can’t properly attribute this, but there are two possibilities: ‘we are either alone in the universe or we are not. Each is equally terrifying’.

Nuff said. ??

That sounds familiar....

 

[John]

Arthur C Clarke said something very similar I seem to recall.

He also wrote and co-wrote the RAMA novels as well, as it happens.

 

[Floater]

As I wrote, I can’t remember. Carl Sagan?

[Floater]

Just now, John said:

Arthur C Clarke said something very similar I seem to recall.

He also wrote and co-wrote the RAMA novels as well, co-incidentally.

 

Think you have it, John. Clarke it is. ?

[niallk]

Anyone who hasn't read Clarke's 'Rendezvous with Rama' - ask Santa for it: you're in for a real treat imho his best work

I remember reading that Morgan Freeman bought the movie rights, but no sign of it ever being made. Of course a book is always better...

[Horwig]

2 minutes ago, niallk said:

Anyone who hasn't read Clarke's 'Rendezvous with Rama' - ask Santa for it: you're in for a real treat imho his best work

Another vote for Rama, I'd forgotten all about it, it had been on my bookshelf for more years than I care to think about, wonderful read.

[ringz]

Rendezvous with Rama is currently being dramatised on BBC Radio 4 in 2 parts

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00hs8xn  

[Dave In Vermont]

I am most interested, and amused! A bunch of us were talking here about ‘Oumuamua being a possible battered, old starship. Looks to be more than just us were thinking about this being a distinct possibility:

Breakthrough Listen is Going to Scan ‘Oumuamua, You Know, Just to be Sure it’s Just an Asteroid and Not a Spaceship..pdf

Several YouTube pieces in the above, so have fun!

On Pins & Needles,

Dave

[DaveS]

It could silent and stiil be an ancient wreck of a starship, though its path does look rather well targeted.

[DaveS]

Reading the opening chapter always gives me the shivers. I vastly prefere his solo works, his writing has a lyricism that the collborations lack.

[Pete Presland]

What a wonderful thought, that it might be some sort of  "craft" drifting through the cosmos. Equally wonderful is, that its maybe a shard of rock from a collision millions of years ago. Either way its got people I know talking about astronomy, so its a welcome visitor.

[scarp15]

As long as its not the Vogons.

[DaveS]

Well it's heading away, so maybe they cought some reality tv and decided to high-tail out .

[Sam]

I saw the news reports on this and was motivated to write an article about it: https://milky-way.kiwi/2017/12/14/oumuamua-and-pattern-recognition/ . It’s a fascinating asteroid and it has probably been on a amazing journey, though not sure from where. The Nature article that one of the scientists from Pan-STARRS wrote had a few suggestions on which system it may have come from. There’s certainly some speculation going on about what exactly it is. Though by the sounds of it we are just getting better at detecting stuff and are likely to find more of these in the future - including asteroids with unusual shapes.

[Shibby]

On 12/12/2017 at 17:45, DaveS said:

It could silent and stiil be an ancient wreck of a starship, though its path does look rather well targeted.

We have to remember that there is bias in the detection/observation of this asteroid. It may be that they enter our system all the time, but we only detected this one because of its proximity to earth.