"Will Astronomers Be Ready for the Next ‘Oumuamua?" Topic
8 Posts
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| Tango01 | 07 Mar 2018 10:11 p.m. PST |
"Last fall an unexpected out-of-towner blazed a faint but memorable trail through the solar system. ‘Oumuamua, as it came to be called, had dive-bombed the sun from parts unknown, and was witnessed whizzing past Earth on an orbital path that would take it back out to interstellar space. That offered astronomers a brief, first-ever chance to study an object from another star. As a singular event, ‘Oumuamua was gratifyingly weird: likely made of rock or metal, reddish in color, not gassy like a comet and stretched into an extremely elongated shape. On the off chance that the visitor was a probe with artificial origins, scientists with the Breakthrough Listen project and the SETI Institute even checked to see whether it was broadcasting radio waves. (It wasn't.) Soon the speeding object had slipped beyond the reach of even our best telescopes…"
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| Cacique Caribe | 07 Mar 2018 10:13 p.m. PST |
You mean they weren't ready for the first one? :) Dan
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| Tango01 | 07 Mar 2018 10:17 p.m. PST |
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| Bowman | 08 Mar 2018 5:51 a.m. PST |
A lot depends on luck. How big is the object?
How fast is it moving?
Where is the Earth in relation to the object when it enters the solar system?
What is the object made of? (degassing comets are easier to spot than dark rocks). I'll totally guess by saying many smaller, darker, fast moving extra solar objects enter our system all the time. We just don't see them. |
| Cacique Caribe | 08 Mar 2018 12:20 p.m. PST |
Anyway, I don't think the world can take another "Oumuamua". :) Dan
PS. Why are there more astronomers looking at distant stars, and theorizing about the expansion of the universe, than there are those looking for ways to detect giant planet killer (or nation killer) rocks crossing our solar system?
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| goragrad | 08 Mar 2018 9:12 p.m. PST |
Obviously by looking only for radio transmissions they haven't read the Ender's Game where the aliens have a hive mind and are in constant telepathic contact with the hive queen… Rather an anthropocentric mindset, what? |
| Cacique Caribe | 09 Mar 2018 8:51 p.m. PST |
Goragrad: "Rather an anthropocentric mindset" Well, it is the only mind we have, and it's a terrible thing to waste. :) Dan |
| Bowman | 10 Mar 2018 7:07 a.m. PST |
Obviously by looking only for radio transmissions they haven't read the Ender's Game where the aliens have a hive mind and are in constant telepathic contact with the hive queen… Given its science fiction, we'd assume a physical medium for the telepathy to occur. In that case, we would discern it's presence as some form of transmission. Rather an anthropocentric mindset, what? As opposed to………? Telepathy or not, aliens have to get from point A to point B using physical means of transport. There would be physical signs for that too, I'd assume. |
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