Breathless speculation aside, I think it would be extremely cool if we could identify, intercept and sample an extrasolar object at some point in my lifetime.
ProllyInfamous 19 hours ago [-]
The most amazing thing to me (after reading Wikipedia on this very-recent classification of "Interstellar Object"), is that only two prior have been confirmed, and all in the last decade.
m4rtink 23 hours ago [-]
By this point it looks like they are not that rare. Lets just hope the next one does not have enough delta-v to change its trajectory to intercept us - at a couple dozen km/s. ;-)
That just means that the first people making contact with the object will not be speaking English, not that it will not happen at all
yodon 23 hours ago [-]
> For the layman: These plots show a sudden burst of acceleration on the object, and the push points mostly in one steady direction within the orbital plane. A normal comet warms up and ramps its outgassing gradually, and breaking apart would look chaotic with the direction of thrust changing randomly.
> Here we see one short, powerful jet, like a sealed pocket finally venting, so the speed jumps sharply while the path stays in the same plane; it accelerates but it surprisingly doesn’t change direction.
> It resembles what a single thruster would do (what an incredible prospect!), but it can technically still be explained by a natural rupture of volatile ices in an ancient space rock.
tummler 22 hours ago [-]
Seems odd to me that there would be one short, powerful jet of a natural explanation. Why hasn’t this thing been outgassing like crazy the whole time?
HPsquared 22 hours ago [-]
Maybe it was cooking away like a sealed food container in a microwave, internal pressure building, then the seal is breached and the internal pressure is released in a single event.
aaroninsf 22 hours ago [-]
Current speculation is that it's a novel object type, unlike the conglomerate iceballs we call "comets," with a different origin and history.
Unfortunately we did not make the heroic effort it would have taken to get a close look, so as with 1I/ʻOUMUAMUA we'll be left with enigmas and uncertainty.
Unless of course it brakes hard into a parking orbit. :)
bigbuppo 21 hours ago [-]
I guess the aliens are here to watch the AI bubble pop.
aaroninsf 21 hours ago [-]
Plot twist: the aliens are AI and are here to watch the meat bubble pop!
ojosilva 15 hours ago [-]
For the fans of the genre, some more speculation by the master speculator himself:
> Here we see one short, powerful jet, like a sealed pocket finally venting, so the speed jumps sharply while the path stays in the same plane; it accelerates but it surprisingly doesn’t change direction.
> It resembles what a single thruster would do (what an incredible prospect!), but it can technically still be explained by a natural rupture of volatile ices in an ancient space rock.
Unfortunately we did not make the heroic effort it would have taken to get a close look, so as with 1I/ʻOUMUAMUA we'll be left with enigmas and uncertainty.
Unless of course it brakes hard into a parking orbit. :)
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/post-perihelion-data-on-3i-atlas...