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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Plan 9 From Outer Space |
| 2017-12-13 |
| [DailyMail] Astronomers are set to scan an 'alien' comet for signs of extraterrestrial technology. Hormidos!! The cigar-shaped asteroid, named 'Oumuamua by its discoverers, sailed past Earth last month and is the first interstellar object seen in the solar system. A team of alien-hunting scientists, led by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, will scan the comet this week before it sails beyond the reach of Earth's telescopes. Didn't like what they saw? They say they are looking for radio signals, claiming the mysterious visitor could be an alien spaceship. Astronomers have begun scanning an 'alien' comet for signs of extraterrestrial technology. Researchers say they are looking for radio signals, claiming the mysterious visitor could be an alien spaceship. A cigar-shaped comet named 'Oumuamua sailed past Earth last month and is the first interstellar object seen in the solar system. It was first spotted by a telescope in Hawaii on 18 October, and was observed 34 separate times in the following week. Travelling at 44 kilometres per second (27 miles per second), the comet is headed away from the Earth and Sun on its way out of the solar system. The comet is up to one-quarter mile (400 meters) long and highly-elongated - perhaps 10 times as long as it is wide. That aspect ratio is greater than that of any asteroid or comet observed in our solar system to date. But the comet's slightly red hue ‐ specifically pale pink ‐ and varying brightness are remarkably similar to objects in our own solar system. The alien-hunting project will use the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia for its investigation, with the campaign set to begin at 3:00pm ET (8:00pm GMT) on Wednesday. The telescopes sensitive equipment would would take less than a minute to pick up something as faint as the radio waves from a smartphone, according to the Atlantic. Milner, the business mogul behind Breakthrough Listen, a $100 million (£75m) search for intelligent extraterrestrial life, received an email about the object last week from one of his chief scientists. 'The more I study this object, the more unusual it appears, making me wonder whether it might be an artificially made probe which was sent by an alien civilisation,' Professor Avi Loeb, the chair of Harvard's astronomy department and one of Milner's advisers on Breakthrough Listen, wrote in the email. Professor Loeb said the space rock's peculiar elongated shape is odd for a common space rock but ideal for a ship flying between star systems. |
| Posted by:Deacon Blues |
| #28 Long ago I read of plans for hollowing out an asteroid to make an interstellar spacecraft. The idea would be the rock itself could provide a lot of protection from space debris and radiation. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2017-12-13 22:51 |
| #27 I would not be surprised if extrasolar objects pass through the solar system fairly frequ3ntly, our not seeing them is a function of not looking in the right place and most times they are passing a lot farther out. But if this object is artificial it sure is an instellar slowpoke |
| Posted by: Cheaderhead 2017-12-13 22:18 |
| #26 Just have to include this! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2017-12-13 19:49 |
| #25 With all the stupid sitcoms and broadcasts and news we spew out in to space every day we better hope no spacefaring race finds us and decides the've had enough of our crap... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2017-12-13 19:46 |
| #24 It's all relative ya know. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2017-12-13 18:11 |
| #23 That's only true for low speeds. Yeah? Tell that to the Borg. ;^) |
| Posted by: AlanC 2017-12-13 16:56 |
| #22 After seeing our mainstream media the past few months, the aliens are saying "No intelligent life detected, keep going". So without a course change, either there is no intelligent life on it, or else its far too intelligent for us. |
| Posted by: Injun Bucket8891 2017-12-13 16:14 |
| #21 A big, pink cylindrical object? Sounds like a Giant Space Pen1s to me. So...Papa Oumaumau, or Navy Aviator call sign? |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2017-12-13 16:06 |
| #20 They are not a problem to you. But I strongly suggest you leave them alone. Very friendly and saves your asses on occasion. |
| Posted by: newc 2017-12-13 15:27 |
| #19 A team of alien-hunting scientists, led by Russian billionaire |
| Posted by: gorb 2017-12-13 15:24 |
| #18 #17 A big, pink cylindrical object? Sounds like a Giant Space Pen1s to me. Hillary Clinton in Ghostbusters: "Choose the fate of your Destructor" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2017-12-13 14:41 |
| #17 A big, pink cylindrical object? Sounds like a Giant Space Pen1s to me. Maybe the aliens are trying to tell us something. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2017-12-13 13:52 |
| #16 If it is as old as I think it is, the erosion from space dust would change it from a sparkling example of home world technology into a corroded eroded thing such as we have here. As for exceeding the speed of light? Heck I don't know, I just know that once you get to about 0.9C things get very weird and beyond that it is all theoretical...go read Einstein he might illuminate you. I was just saying the nearest likely suspects for intelligent life are so far away this thing if intelligent in origin is extremely old (see dinosaurs). |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2017-12-13 13:40 |
| #15 If I were an Alien, My space ship would not look like a rock; it would be the cover feature for the forthcoming issue of 'Better Homes and Hangars.' |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2017-12-13 12:59 |
| #14 Is this the year to test our warp drive systems for the first time? Mr. Cochran, we turn our lonely eyes to you! |
| Posted by: Raj 2017-12-13 12:02 |
| #13 Even at speeds exceeding the speed of light Exceeding by how much? You're not a SF fan, SPOD. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2017-12-13 11:25 |
| #12 Rendezvous with Rama, really enjoyed that book. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2017-12-13 10:55 |
| #11 I seem to remember a Shuttle experiment that involved deploying a rather long cable (here it is). The 'odd' shape, in motion, reminded me of that. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-12-13 10:48 |
| #10 Even at speeds exceeding the speed of light, the object, if intelligent in origin, is several million years old and most likely the civilization of origin has moved on or expired. Space is vast and the distances are almost beyond comprehension. If a civilization were scanning our planet, they would be seeing dinosaurs not cities. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2017-12-13 10:28 |
| #9 Second, in the vacuum of space where induced drag approximates zilch That's only true for low speeds. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2017-12-13 09:53 |
| #8 "Professor Loeb said the space rock's peculiar elongated shape is odd for a common space rock but ideal for a ship flying between star systems." First, I don't believe the correct word is "flying." Second, in the vacuum of space where induced drag approximates zilch, shape, aside of accommodating pax and payload, means little. Is the rock rotating about an axis? If so, you have my interest. |
| Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy 2017-12-13 08:56 |
| #7 I hope they discover some redemptive value, but I'm not at all optimistic. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2017-12-13 08:47 |
| #6 Richard Stanton T. Friedman feels the same way about SETI. Shades of Arthur C. Clarke's "Rendezvous with Rama". |
| Posted by: Woodrow 2017-12-13 08:44 |
| #5 Perhaps we're under observation. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2017-12-13 08:43 |
| #4 Took a slingshot path. What are the odds? |
| Posted by: Woodrow 2017-12-13 08:40 |
| #3 Does it make whale sounds? If it does, I've seen this movie. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2017-12-13 08:03 |
| #2 I suspect that if this is an interstellar alien spacecraft or probe, from a civilization advanced enough to produce it, then they would probably be somewhat beyond 'radio' for communications. Quantum Entangled Particle or Superluminal communication concepts (both theoretical and both having constraints, based on what we know), or something else entirely, might be utilized. Still, keep listening. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2017-12-13 07:40 |
| #1 Good, private sector. Our tax funded, gov audited, lifer admins managed crack NEO monitoring team didn’t notice until it passed. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-12-13 01:12 |