Interstellar visitor

[anonymous-user]

The initial message was deleted from this topic on 07 November 2020 at 04:45

[jmorgan]

Just read that on National Geographic.
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/10/inters...

How many more.......

Edited by jmorgan on Saturday 28th October 07:22

[SystemParanoia]

would have been great if we could have done a rosetta style mission to it

[jmorgan]

Need some legs to catch it I would have thought (if there was time to mount a mission)?

[Einion Yrth]

jmorgan said:

Need some legs to catch it I would have thought (if there was time to mount a mission)?

It was already past perihelion when we spotted it, and going like a bat out of hell on a hyperbolic orbit; we ain't catching that.

[Eric Mc]

jmorgan said:

Need some legs to catch it I would have thought (if there was time to mount a mission)?

Exactly. Before you can send a spacecraft towards a planetary body, you need to know the exact trajectory and speed of the body's orbit. It can actually take a few months to work that out precisely as it involves careful and accurate monitoring of its movement across the sky. This is not easy as these objects are invariably very faint and can sometimes be lost soon after discovery.

Once all that has been ascertained, if a mission to it is planned, the nature of the mission has to be decided on i.e. the instrumentation to be carried, the amount of manoeuvering fuel, how it will be powered (solar, RTG or something else).

Once the size and capability of the spacecraft is decided, that and the characteristics of the target body will determine what type of rocket will be needed to launch the probe.

By the time all that is done, a decade will probably have passed.

And then there's the trajectory that is required to get the probe to the planetary body. That might require a planetary fly-by or two (or more) and other tricks to get it up to the speed required to conduct the rendezvous.

So, not really much use for a quick mission to an object that was only discovered a few weeks or months previously.

[funkyrobot]

There is an interesting theory that this is a solar sail from an alien space craft. It has sped up as it leaves the solar system.

Other theory is that it's a comet, so you would expect this.

It's been called Oumuamua.

This is the right thread, isn't it?

[Eric Mc]

Can they still see it?

I would have thought it would be way too faint to be able to see it now.

[funkyrobot]

Too small for Spitzer to detect. Therefore, most likely a little comet.

Bah.

[Einion Yrth]

funkyrobot said:

Too small for Spitzer to detect. Therefore, most likely a little comet.

Bah.

The Ramans do everything in threes; keep watching the skies.

[funkyrobot]

I'm really fascinated by this object. It's probably been travelling for eons. Would have been amazing to catch up with it and sample it.

Would be even more interesting if it was actually on a large orbit which meant it visits us every thousand years or so.

An old piece of alien technology sounds great. Probably not at all true, but exciting nonetheless.

[Einion Yrth]

funkyrobot said:

I'm really fascinated by this object. It's probably been travelling for eons. Would have been amazing to catch up with it and sample it.

Would be even more interesting if it was actually on a large orbit which meant it visits us every thousand years or so.

An old piece of alien technology sounds great. Probably not at all true, but exciting nonetheless.

Sadly the orbit was definitely hyperbolic, and for some reason it sped up as it left. (No I'm not claiming aliens, but we don't actually know why, so it can't absotively posolutely be ruled out, probably was just comet outgassing.)

[anonymous-user]

https://news.yahoo.com/harvard-astronomer-argues-a...

Avi Loeb’s book publicity in action

That's the premise of a new book by a top astronomer, who argues that the simplest and best explanation for the highly unusual characteristics of an interstellar object that sped through our solar system in 2017 is that it was alien technology.

[funkyrobot]

This thing still fascinates me.

Not sure about the book because some reviews seem to state its more a reflection of his thoughts on life, the universe etc, rather than a book about this visitor.

[funkyrobot]

Einion Yrth said:

funkyrobot said:

I'm really fascinated by this object. It's probably been travelling for eons. Would have been amazing to catch up with it and sample it.

Would be even more interesting if it was actually on a large orbit which meant it visits us every thousand years or so.

An old piece of alien technology sounds great. Probably not at all true, but exciting nonetheless.

Sadly the orbit was definitely hyperbolic, and for some reason it sped up as it left. (No I'm not claiming aliens, but we don't actually know why, so it can't absotively posolutely be ruled out, probably was just comet outgassing.)

I'm pretty sure Avi said recently that they couldn't see any outgassing. His opinion is that it could be like a solar sail powered by sunlight.

[xeny]

funkyrobot said:

I'm pretty sure Avi said recently that they couldn't see any outgassing. His opinion is that it could be like a solar sail powered by sunlight.

Wouldn't it have to have an incredibly high area:mass ratio to accelerate significantly from solar sail effects?

[Yertis]

Has anyone else read Avi’s book yet? I’m just about to start it (but need to finish ‘Sagittarius Rising’ first).