Author: Amy

An asteroid rock named ‘Oumuamua’, first discovered over a year ago, is the first interstellar object to visit our solar system that’s unlike any comet or asteroid observed before. A new study examining ‘Oumuamua’s orbit hints that they might have. The question is it merely an odd shaped asteroid or a ship built by aliens disguised as a space rock? Two astronomers with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) took a closer look at the cigar-shaped object. They looked at the unusual acceleration of the asteroid as it travelled through our solar system. Their aim was to figure out what may have caused the unexpected boost in the object’s motion. The acceleration the asteroid travelled is much more like that of a comet. But prior analysis of ‘Oumuamua (which means “messenger from afar arriving first” in Hawaiian) suggested that the strange object was no comet. One theory is that pressure from solar radiation could propel ‘Oumuamua if the object — or part of it — is thin enough and strong enough to act as a type of “light sail,” which generates propulsion using solar energy. Whilst a structure like this could possibly form naturally it also points to being artificially created by intelligent aliens according to the Harvard researchers. As ‘Oumuamua’ flew through our solar system many scientists investigated if it might in fact be an alien spacecraft. Astronomers...