High School Could Solar Radiation Explain 'Oumuamua's Strange Trajectory?

  • Thread starter Thread starter .Scott
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Puzzle
Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the research by Marco Micheli et al., published in Nature, which confirms that 'Oumuamua (1L/2017 U1) was not solely influenced by gravitational forces during its transit, exhibiting a significant 30 sigma certainty of being pushed away from the sun. Shmuel Bialy and Abraham Loeb propose that if 'Oumuamua is extremely thin, solar radiation pressure could account for its unusual trajectory, suggesting it may have survived its journey through interstellar space. The conversation also touches on the speculative notion that 'Oumuamua could be an alien probe, prompting further investigation into potential technosignatures in the Solar System.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of solar radiation pressure and its effects on celestial bodies
  • Familiarity with the concept of out-gassing in comets
  • Knowledge of interstellar objects and their characteristics
  • Basic grasp of statistical significance, specifically the concept of sigma levels
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the implications of solar radiation pressure on small celestial bodies
  • Study the characteristics and behavior of interstellar objects like 'Oumuamua
  • Explore the concept of technosignatures and their relevance in astrobiology
  • Investigate the methods used to determine the physical properties of asteroids and comets
USEFUL FOR

Astronomers, astrophysicists, and researchers interested in interstellar objects, solar radiation effects, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

.Scott
Science Advisor
Homework Helper
Messages
3,864
Reaction score
1,924
This past June, research by Marco Micheli et al was published in Nature:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0254-4/

The gist of this article is that 'Oumuamua, (aka 1L/2017 U1) 2017's interstellar asteroid, was not following a strictly gravitational path around the sun. There is practical certainty (30 sigma) that it was being pushed away from the sun during its transit. The out-gassing of comets causes them to be similarly pushed away from the sun, but there was no other indication that 'Oumuamua might be out-gassing. More specifically, out-gassing should have resulted in a change in 'Oumuamua's angular velocity and no such change occurred.

There is now a recent article by Shmuel Bialy and Abraham Loeb
https://arxiv.org/abs/1810.11490
They demonstrate that if 'Oumuamua is very thin, solar radiation could explain the observed trajectory - and that such an asteroid could have survived a trek to our Solar System.
 
  • Like
Likes QuantumQuest, davenn, berkeman and 1 other person
Astronomy news on Phys.org
.Scott said:
There is now a recent article by Shmuel Bialy and Abraham Loeb
https://arxiv.org/abs/1810.11490
They demonstrate that if 'Oumuamua is very thin, solar radiation could explain the observed trajectory - and that such an asteroid could have survived a trek to our Solar System.
thanks, Scott

An interesting possibility :smile:Dave
 
Bwah! :oldsurprised: What! :oldsurprised:

Cigar-shaped interstellar object may have been an alien probe, Harvard paper claims [CNN]
Updated 10:47 AM ET, Tue November 6, 2018​

Wondering who on Earth would publish this, I found that they reference your referenced paper!:
.Scott said:
There is now a recent article by Shmuel Bialy and Abraham Loeb
https://arxiv.org/abs/1810.11490

Alternatively, a more exotic scenario is that ‘Oumuamua may be a fully operational probe sent intentionally to Earth vicinity by an alien civilization.
...
A survey for lightsails as technosiganures in the Solar System is warranted, irrespective of whether ‘Oumuamua is one of them.
​

:bugeye:

Anyways, even if it's only a one in a bazillion chance, it's fun to think about. :oldsmile:
 
  • Like
Likes hmmm27
Given how long it took to figure out the Pioneer anomaly, an object we knew all the details about, I'd wait a bit longer to proclaim "it's aliens!"...
 
.Scott said:
They demonstrate that if 'Oumuamua is very thin, solar radiation could explain the observed trajectory - and that such an asteroid could have survived a trek to our Solar System.
What do they mean by 'thin'? They talk about surface area to mass - does that mean they mean "thin-walled" - as in hollow?
 
DaveC426913 said:
What do they mean by 'thin'?

They seem to think about a paperborad with the same area density of ##{\textstyle{m \over A}} \approx 0.1{\textstyle{g \over {cm^2 }}}##. Of course this value doesn't necessarely mean that the thickness is in the range of millimeters. But even for a structure made of aerogel it would be not more than a meter.
 

Similar threads

Oumuamua may be an alien lightsail?
  • · Replies 72 ·
3
Replies
72
Views
12K