Interstellar Interlopers, Coming in from the great beyond |
Interstellar Interlopers, Coming in from the great beyond |
Oct 27 2017, 01:40 PM
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#1
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Member Group: Members Posts: 541 Joined: 17-November 05 From: Oklahoma Member No.: 557 |
They finally found a chunk of something coming into the Solar System. Something much bigger than cosmic rays or dust particles.
Asteroid/comet in hyperbolic trajectory |
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Nov 18 2017, 04:10 PM
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#2
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 68 Joined: 27-March 15 Member No.: 7426 |
Examination of the light curve of Oumuamua as it rotates is now reported to suggest an object 30 meters wide by 180 long. That's a remarkably long, thin object, about the shape of a thick cigar; length to width ratio 6 to 1. That's over twice the longest, thinest asteroid known to inhabit our solar system.
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Nov 18 2017, 05:18 PM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2091 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
Examination of the light curve of Oumuamua as it rotates is now reported to suggest an object 30 meters wide by 180 long. That's a remarkably long, thin object, about the shape of a thick cigar; length to width ratio 6 to 1. That's over twice the longest, thinest asteroid known to inhabit our solar system. Very interesting/strange...How can something like that stay together? It's not a rubble pile like Itokawa (which is bigger), so it must be more solid? I wonder what Arthur C. Clarke would say... |
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Nov 18 2017, 06:14 PM
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#4
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 68 Joined: 27-March 15 Member No.: 7426 |
Very interesting/strange...How can something like that stay together? It's not a rubble pile like Itokawa (which is bigger), so it must be more solid? I wonder what Arthur C. Clarke would say... The spectra of the object suggested similarities to D and P class asteroids. These are made of silicates, carbon, and perhaps some ice in their interiors. I don't know how well such material would bear spinning, once every 8 hours, if formed into such a long thin shape. Seeing no asteroids belonging to our own solar system that come anywhere near this shape, I'm inclined to suspect that such an object would be likely to fly apart, or be knocked apart by impacts. |
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