New mystery solved? The passing of a bolite in our solar system in 2017 baffled astrophysicists, one of whom went so far as to see extraterrestrial technology. A study published Wednesday in the journal Nature Provides a “non-alien” explanation for exotic visitation. Discovered through a telescope in Hawaii, OmuamuaMeaning “scout” in the Hawaiian language, it traveled at the fastest possible speed, the first, to another star system.
The discovery has sent the astronomical community into a frenzy, which has long searched for similar objects Comets entering our solar system from vast space. Except that Oumuamua isn’t like typical comets: it doesn’t have the characteristic plume formed by their enormous halos of gas and dust as they approach the Sun.
A series of principles
The star observer, about 100 m wide, was distinguished by a large variation in its brilliance and brightness, giving the appearance of a metallic object moving itself. But stranger still, after circling the Sun, Omuamu’a accelerated and veered off course, ejected by a mysterious force. The Solar System.
Scientists were bewildered, with four months of incomplete and contradictory data trying to figure it out. This led to a whole series of theories. Some are “beyond imagination,” said Jennifer Bergner, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Berkeley, who co-authored the study published in AFP. Nature. Avi Loeb, director of the Department of Astronomy at Harvard University, argued that the most plausible scenario was that Omuamu’a was an alien craft. A controversial thesis, he defended in his book 2021 First sign of extraterrestrial intelligent life.
According to Jennifer Bergner’s description, whatever Omuamua’s origin is, it is a watery, comet-like object. During its journey through interstellar space, it was subjected to cosmic rays that bombarded the water releasing hydrogen, which became trapped in the body of the object. As the bolide approached the Sun, the heat released the trapped hydrogen, acting as a “thruster” that sent it on an unexpected trajectory. “Entrapped hydrogen is the most common explanation,” Darryl Seligman of Cornell University and co-author of the study developed in a press release.
Scientists debate
AFP asked about the study Nature, says the astrophysicist, saying that a comet has no tail “is like saying an elephant is a zebra without stripes.” Comet 2I/Borisov, the second extrasolar visitor seen in 2019, had long hairs of dust, he recalled. Jennifer Bergner’s answer: If Oumuamua does not have a tail, it is probably much smaller than all comets observed so far, including 2I/Borisov.
The situation may change soon. Observations by the Vera-C.-Rubin Telescope in Chile, which will begin in 2025, are expected to discover many new comets both inside and outside the Solar System. If the smaller ones show signs of releasing trapped hydrogen and don’t have a tail like Omuamu’a, that would confirm the theory, the astronomer added.
As for the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligent life, the scientist comments, “it all depends on the amount of evidence required.” “We’ll never know what Oumuamua is—we missed our chance. But for now, I think we’re providing a compelling explanation that isn’t extraterrestrial,” he concludes.
