According to a new study, a mysterious interstellar object called Oumuamua that passed through our solar system last year in October could potentially be a “fully operational probe sent intentionally to Earth vicinity by an alien civilisation”.
Oumuamua was the first interstellar object to ever be seen by mankind, with unusual characteristics such as its “extreme aspect ratio” and “spinning motion”. And while it can be agreed that it originated from outside our solar system, what it actually is has been the subject of debate.
The object was initially identified as a comet, but scientists have debunked that theory due to it not presenting “a cometary tail, gas emission or absorption lines, or any cometary activity.”
Others have since suggested it was actually an asteroid. Now, two researchers have attempted to explain in a new paper why the cigar-shaped, skyscraper-sized object sped up and changed direction while zooming past planet Earth.
A soon to be released paper written by researchers Shmuel Bialy and Abraham Loeb from the Havard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics points to the change in speed as Oumuamua passed and left our solar system – odd behaviour for a rock. The paper, due to be published November 12 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, focuses on how an object like Oumuamua could be a “light sail” which uses solar radiation pressure to propel an object ahead.
In this case, the researchers say it could be “debris from an advanced technological equipment” before suggesting the much wilder, “more exotic scenario” that Oumuamua may be an operational probe sent by aliens.
At the end of the day, however, there’s no way to know for sure. Whether Oumuamua was something natural, an old piece of busted technological junk, or extraterrestrial visitors, we’ll probably never know for sure.
Oumuamua has left our solar system and is no longer capable of being seen – but as Loeb points out, the existence of Oumuamua suggests there are others like it yet to be found.
