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'Oumuamua

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'Oumuamua (Hawaiian for "scout"), object catalog 1I/2017 U1 that at least does not sound so weird, is the first known interstellar object discovered while it was crossing our Solar System.

Discovery and trajectory[edit]

'Oumuamua was discovered in October 2017 with the Pan-STARSS telescope after its closest approach to the Sun and after having classified as yet another unremarkable asteroid or comet was recognized as a body coming from outside the Solar System the next month once earlier images of the same object were found digging on archives of images taken with other telescopes,[1] when it was observed that, unlike standard comets or asteroids, there was no way a Solar System minor body could have such trajectory and relative speed.[2]

Its trajectory brought it from the direction of the Lyra constellation[3] and after approaching to the Sun closer than the orbit of Mercury[4] and receiving a boost on its speed, it's on course towards Pegasus.[5] It is also estimated that it will leave our Solar System within 20,000 years.

Properties[edit]

Giant space coprolite from nowhere Artist's impresion of 'Oumuamua

Due to its faintness and small size, very little is known of 'Oumuamua. It has been suggested it could have come from a stellar association of young stars located 300 light-years from us,[6] a small chunk of a planet that got shredded by a star,[7] or an asteroid ejected from a dying star system[8], but for all intents and purposes its origin is unknown and it could have well roamed the Milky Way for countless millions of years.

Measurements of 'Oumuamua's spectrum suggests it's a very red object similar to other outer Solar System bodies such as certain asteroids or comets.[9] Its size is not well determined but it's estimated to be roughly a battleship-size turd highly elongated in the range of around 200 meters[10] in chaotic rotation with a period of around 8 hours.[11] More recent findings show 'Oumuamua to be not an asteroid but a mildly active (still interstellar) comet instead, since it appears that it's outgassingWikipedia's W.svg material after passing the Sun.[12]

It has been proposed to send a probe to 'Oumuamua[3], but sadly even if we had technology to move a spacecraft so fast, given the way things work with space agencies — read: limited budgets and lots of bureaucracy — it's unlikely to happen.

Woo[edit]

Funny and harmless comparisons with the starship "Rama", which appears on Arthur C. Clarke's novel Rendevous with Rama have been made,[13] including that "Rama" and 'Oumuamua are both highly elongated.

'Oumuamua has also been linked to Nibiru/Planet X by pseudoastronomers,[14] which had been incorrectly predicted to arrive at in the Solar System multiple times, including some predictions that were at least in the same year as 'Oumuamua (never mind that it did none of the things predicted for Nibiru).

External links[edit]

References[edit]