In this illustration, an asteroid is in the foreground in the lower left corner. The two bright spots above it at the far left are the Earth (right) and the Moon (left). The sun appears on the right.
NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. da Silva / Spaceengine
mysterious umuamua rectangle object It probably goes into the scientific record as the first known interstellar object to be observed in our solar system, but it’s now clear that some of the cosmic debris that hit our atmosphere a few years ago also came from very deep space.
In 2019, two researchers from Harvard University study ‘Oumuamua produced a new research paper that hypothesized that a meteorite very fast that passed through the atmosphere in 2014 was also interstellar. The record of its impact and references to its unusual origin have been hidden in plain sight in a NASA pyrotechnic database for years.
The summary reads: “Its high speed…indicates a possible origin from the deep interior of a planetary system or star in the thick disk of the Milky Way.” the paper From student Amir Siraj and veteran astronomer Avi Loeb.
However, like SI I recently said viceThe review and publication of the paper was put on hold because the US military had compiled some of the data needed to confirm the scientists’ calculations.
It now appears that the bureaucratic impasse has broken down.
An unusual note from US Space Command to NASA’s chief of science was shared via the USSC Twitter account last week after Deputy Commandant Lieutenant General John Shaw revealed his presence at the annual Space Symposium in Colorado.
6/ “I had the pleasure of signing a memorandum with Embedded TweetSenior scientist Dr. Moser, to confirm that a previously discovered interstellar object was indeed an interstellar object, a claim that has helped the broader astronomical community. ” pic.twitter.com/PGlIonCSrW
– US Space Command (@US_SpaceCom) April 7, 2022
“Dr. Joel Moser, Chief Scientist, Space Operations Command … see analysis of additional data available to the Department of Defense regarding this discovery,” states Dr. Joel Moser, chief scientist, Space Operations Command. Moser confirmed that the velocity estimate reported by NASA is accurate enough to indicate an interstellar path.”
It is estimated that the meteor was relatively small, possibly close to the size of a microwave. This means that the vast majority of it burned up in the atmosphere and the remaining pieces fell into the Pacific Ocean.
However, Siraj is looking into the possibility of searching for any remaining pieces on the ocean floor, which Loeb believes may contain evidence of life from other star systems.
“The reported meteor entered the solar system at a speed of 60 km/s [134,216 mph],” Loeb told me in 2019. Such a high velocity of ejection can only be produced in the innermost cores of planetary systems – within Earth’s orbit around a Sun-like star, but in the habitable zone of dwarf stars, allowing these bodies to transfer life from their parents. planets. ”
Loeb has since become a controversial figure in scientific circles due to his claim that the “simplest explanation” for Oumuamua’s origin is that it was created by extraterrestrial intelligence.
It would be difficult to prove this hypothesis, because Oumuamua is moving away from us in deep space. Likewise, the odds of finding a meteorite on the ocean floor are as good as waiting for an ET to appear in person at Harvard.
