Despite the setbacks of some in the scientific community, one researcher at Harvard University continues with the idea that the first interstellar object ever discovered is actually a piece of strange technology.
In his new book, “Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth”, Avi Loeb, chairman of Harvard’s Department of Astronomy, argues that ‘Oumuamua’ was a piece of advanced technology created by a distant alien civilization, ” according to a statement issued by the book’s publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
The artist’s illustration of Oumuamua, the first interstellar object ever spotted in our solar system.
(M. Kornmesser / ESO)
MYSTERIOUS INTERSTELLAR OBJECT ‘OUMUAMUA GETS NEW ORIGIN STORY
The mysterious object was first discovered in October 2017, but it differs from anything researchers have ever seen because of its shape and dry surface. It was no longer observable with telescopes from January 2018, as it swirled through the solar system on its way back to interstellar space.
‘Oumuamua, meaning’ pathfinder ‘or’ scout ‘in Hawaii, was first classified as an asteroid when it was spotted traveling at 196,000 km / h, but has recently become more like a comet.
The place of origin of the 900-foot-long, cigar-shaped ‘Oumuamua’ is still a mystery. Some have suggested that it may have come from the giant molecular cloud (GMC) W51, 17,000 light-years from Earth.
Others have suggested that it is a comet or an asteroid, while others suggest that it is composed of hydrogen, something that is almost unheard of in science. In August, Loeb co-authored a paper that challenged the idea ‘Oumuamua is made of hydrogen ice cream’.
Loeb, who first published a study in November 2018 suggesting that ‘Oumuamua’ may be a light sail of artificial origin ‘, continues with the idea that it comes from another intelligent civilization.
INTERSTELLAR VISITOR ‘OUMUAMUA’ SHOULD NEVER GO HOME, S THEORIES
“The excess pressure from the sun – that was the thing that broke the camel’s back,” Loeb said in an interview with the New York Post.
Loeb added that his theory has caused some controversy in the scientific community, but noted that there are those who ‘do not want to discuss the possibility that there are other civilizations there. They believe that we are special and unique. I think it’s a prejudice that needs to be abandoned. ‘
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In November 2018, the researcher who discovered ‘Oumuamua, the Canadian physicist and astronomer Robert Weryk, said the idea that it came from a different civilization was just’ wild speculation ‘.
The mystery about its exact nature deepened at the end of 2018 when NASA said it had been looking in Ouamumua’s direction for two months, but had not originally seen it.
A second interstellar object, comet 2I / Borisov, was discovered in August 2019.