Scientists found that the first interstellar asteroid to enter the solar system accelerated from time to time.
Unexpected cravings
- Our high-precision measurements showed that something else besides the attraction of the Sun and planets influenced the movement of Oumuamua, - these are the words of Marco Micheli from the European Space Agency Space Situational Awareness Near-Earth Object Coordination Center in Frascati, Italy) leads the NASA website.
Marco and his numerous colleagues (17 people) from different countries, including NASA specialists, published an article in the journal Nature entitled "Non-gravitational acceleration in the trajectory of 1I / 2017 U1 Oumuamua." And they said in it that "the first interstellar asteroid" named Oumuamua did not fly along a ballistic trajectory, like a projectile fired from a cannon, but from time to time accelerated. Like turning on the engines. And in the end, he moved differently than he followed according to Kepler's laws - the laws of celestial mechanics.
Sane scientists believe that Oumuamua is not a creation of an extraterrestrial mind.
“We found clear evidence that Oumuamua’s trajectory was determined not only by gravity,” echoes colleague Harold A. Weaver from The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
Encouraged by the revelations of scientists, the enthusiasts concluded that Oumuamua was still a spacecraft. What else? Once, he himself periodically accelerated.
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In other words, NASA and ESA, apparently unwillingly, confirmed the best suspicions.
Let me remind you that an object moving towards the Sun at a tremendous speed of 87.3 kilometers per second was first detected by astronomers from the University of Hawaii on October 19, 2017. The trajectory of the object was hyperbolic, which indicated that it was flying from some other star system. Most likely from the constellation Lyra.
The guest was officially recognized as an asteroid, but it was named very ambiguously, with a clear hint of brothers in mind - Oumuamua. “The messenger who arrived first from afar” means this in Hawaiian.
It soon became clear that Oumuamua rotates, making one revolution in 7 hours and 18 minutes. And at the same time it changes the brightness. After analyzing the nature of the change, scientists realized that the shape of the object is strange - not "asteroidal" at all. Oumuamua is highly elongated and resembles a cigar, which is about 10 times its diameter.
The fact that the object is elongated was determined by analyzing how it changed brightness while rotating.
The length of the "cigar" was originally estimated at 400 meters, and the diameter, respectively, at 40 meters. Now, as NASA specified, Oumuamua is believed to be twice as long - 800 meters. Its surface is hard, with complex relief, perhaps even metal. At least in places. Himself - red.
Oumuamua was considered a space probe, or even a spacecraft that lost control, not only by ufologists, but also by astronomers who participate in the Breakthrough Listen project, organized by the Russian billionaire Yuri Milner and the late British physicist Stephen Hawking. They pointed a 110-meter antenna of the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, USA, at the object in the hope of catching signals that it could send if it were indeed the creation of extraterrestrial civilizations. But nothing was caught.
Not an asteroid, but not a starship either
The current news about some kind of acceleration of Oumuamua brought back the hope that there were once messengers from other stars in it. But "serious" scientists have cooled the ardor.
According to the authors of the article, the thrust was created by jet jets of dust and gases, which escaped from under the surface of the object that was heated at times - when it flew past heat sources. For example, next to some stars. And in this Oumuamua is like a comet, not an asteroid.
Skeptics are confused by the fact that bypassing the Sun, the impetuous object never released a single jet. At least nothing of the kind was noticed. But scientists insist that there are no other - reasonable - explanations for the thrust impulses. Oumuamua is a comet.
Stephen Hawking believed that Oumuamua was a spaceship.
For example, a ship could be like this.
Checking who is right - "reasonable" or "unreasonable" - will not work. "The messenger who arrived first from afar" rushes away from the solar system - towards the constellation Pegasus. Since January this year, it has not been seen even in space telescopes. In May, Oumuamua crossed the orbit of Jupiter without getting into the field of view of the Juno probe, which is now flying there. In January 2019, Saturn will pass, and in 2024, it will fly over Pluto.
At Saturn, Oumuamua could be "intercepted" by NASA's Cassini automatic interplanetary station (Nasa's Cassini spacecraft). But back in September 2017, the Americans smashed it on the surface of the giant planet.
Let's remain in the dark. But let's remember the science fiction novel by Arthur Clarke "Date with Rama", in which a "cigar" flew to us too, which nevertheless turned out to be a giant spaceship. Oumuamua is smaller than Rama, but the proportions are the same. And the route is similar - in transit from the depths of the Universe.
Oumuamua's trajectory: he flew away and did not communicate to return.
BTW
Unfortunately, there are no good pictures of Oumuamua. As explained at NASA, the object was too small to see it in detail. In all the photos, he appeared only as a bright point, changing its brilliance. This point was spotted over 400 times. Astronomers continue to analyze the collected information.
VLADIMIR LAGOVSKY
