Interstellar Object 'Oumuamua' is 'Unexpectedly' Speeding Up

a reply to: Phage

If we had 100 years of prep-time, I'm sure we could have figured out a way.

We caught Pluto, well enough.

Anyway, the post I made in the other Oumuamua thread still seems relevant here:

1. When we initially observed Oumuamua it did not have a typical ice tail (coma) like our commonly known comets. We didn't think it was a comet, based on this.
2. Based on it's observed acceleration and motion, they determined it is unlikely to be an asteroid. (It is not dense enough.)
3. Asteroids are more dense than comets. (Less density, implies more empty space within the object.)
4. Friction, drag, etc... were ruled out.
5. It's "tumbling rotation" could apply something called the Yarkovsky effect. This has to do with rotating bodies in space, having some sort of acceleration effect due to the spin. (Yarkovsky effect would not apply enough force to account for the observations.)
4. The findings would fit perfectly with a binary object system. AKA, if there were two separate objects, or if Oumuamua was in two pieces.
5. The downside to that, is that they used equipment capable of seeing objects magnitudes fainter than Oumuamua AND able to observe objects up to 100 times smaller than Oumuamua.
6. Even with that sensitivity, they have not found a second object.
7. Solar magnetic interactions were ruled out, they would not be able to account for this motion and acceleration. (Too small by a factor of about 10^5, 100,000 times too weak.)
8. Solar wind and solar pressure effects are also too small to account for it, by a few magnitudes.
9. They even tried to factor in the possibility that Oumuamua has some kind of surface composition that would distort optical observation. (It does not, as far as they can tell, and even if it did, still too small.)

So, even though we couldn't optically see a coma, ice tail, dust, or gas when initially observing Oumuamua... Our most likely guess is that the dust is so tiny, we can't see it.
So, comet is back on the board for explanation, but it has one major detractor. I wish we had an idea of how sensitive the equipment that looked for the coma was...

If that equipment was highly sensitive and we were confident that there is no gas or dust, etc... present...
Then that would mean it's accelerating due to, what may potentially(could, no guarantee) be, a completely unknown mechanism.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: peacefulpete

I don’t think there’s any indication that it’s spinning.

Incorrect. There are strong indications.
www.nature.com...

So it's tumbling? A spaceship with chaotic artificial gravity technology, utilizing rotational force.. My imagination starts to run wild..

Update:


Dr. Karen Meech, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy who led the observation efforts late last year, was interviewed on the Canadian radio show Quirks and Quarks today. She explained that the comet is indeed speeding up, not just accelerating. Scientists are theorizing that the boost must be due to outgassing: the release of gas formerly hardened in ice, now softened and released.

www.standard.co.uk...



What I don't understand is, if it is still rotating as it moves, then why would it move along a certain trajectory? Wouldn't the release of gas from one or more places cause it to move about erratically in multiple, shifting directions?



The only possibility would be that it released a short burst of gas, then stopped.

Scientists conclude that interstellar object 'Oumuamua must be very elongated because of its dramatic variations in brightness as it tumbled through space. They also conclude that vents on the surface must have emitted jets of gases, giving the object a slight boost in speed, which researchers detected by measuring the position of the object as it passed by in 2017.

www.standard.co.uk...

It's not due to gravitational affects...

Marco Micheli of ESA’s (European Space Agency) Space Situational Awareness Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre in Italy said: “Our high-precision measurements of ′Oumuamua’s position revealed that there was something affecting its motion other than the gravitational forces of the Sun and planets.”

The object flew by Earth so fast its speed couldn't be due to the influence of the Sun's gravity alone, so it must have approached the solar system at an already high speed and not interacted with any other planets. On its journey past our star, the object came within a quarter of the distance between the Sun and Earth.

www.nasa.gov...

Scientists are merely theorizing at this point. They don't even know what it looks like:

What does it look like? All that astronomers have seen of 'Oumuamua is a single point of light. But because of its trajectory and small-scale accelerations, it must be smaller than typical objects from the Oort Cloud...

So, it is alien to our solar system, it is moving extremely fast, actually picking up speed as it leaves our solar system, changing trajectory. NASA has wondered if it may be a space craft of some kind:

Based on the interesting but highly unlikely suggestion that 'Oumuamua is an interstellar spacecraft, due to some unusual orbital and morphological characteristics, we examine our data for signals that might indicate the presence of intelligent life associated with 'Oumuamua. We searched our radio data for: 1) impulsive narrow-band signals; 2) persistent narrow-band signals; and 3) impulsive broadband signals. We found no such signals with non-terrestrial origins and make estimates of the upper limits on Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) for these three cases of approximately 7 kW, 840 W, and 100 kW, respectively. These transmitter powers are well within the capabilities of human technologies, and are therefore plausible for alien civilizations. While the chances of positive detection in any given Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) experiment are vanishingly small, the characteristics of new generation telescopes such as the MWA (and in the future, the Square Kilometre Array) make certain classes of SETI experiment easy...

It is possible that the craft is a kind of probe, camouflaged to look like a comet. It is also possible, since it has not really been seen yet, that is does not resemble a comet at all. It has passed through our solar system, made no attempt at communication (that we know of,) and is now shooting away. To be sure, it's a unique and bizarre occurrence.

a reply to: LoneCloudHopper2

She explained that the comet is indeed speeding up, not just accelerating.

She does not say it was "speeding up."

"The surprising observation we discovered was that 'Oumuamua was accelerating," says Meech. "In other words, it wasn't just influenced by the gravity of the planets and the Sun, it was actually moving faster than it should have on its outbound journey."

www.cbc.ca...
Which is what I said, it did not slow down quite as much as it should have.

actually picking up speed as it leaves our solar system

No. If it were doing so, the astronomers would be a hell of a lot more excited about it than they already are. `Oumuamua displayed non-gravitational acceleration, like other comets have.

The motion of all celestial bodies is governed mostly by gravity, but the trajectories of comets can also be affected by non-gravitational forces due to cometary outgassing

www.spacetelescope.org...

One of the studies referenced in the paper:
www.aanda.org...


And the interview was last week, not today.

One reads in the linked letter to the journal Nature, that a number of assumptions must be made in order for the cometary interpretation to be valid. A much more tentative tone is apparent, than in most of the ordinary news articles, which have portrayed the cometary explanation as conclusive.

The letter admits that outgassing like that of a comet can explain the non-gravitational acceleration of Oumuamua only if a comet with several unusual characteristics is assumed.

a reply to: Ross 54

Is there any reason to think a comet from another star would be "usual?"


And I never said it isn't an alien probe.

There is the mediocrity principle, which would hold that our solar system is likely to be largely typical of most others. This implies that a random visitor, such as an interstellar comet, would also probably be from this same sort of solar system, and have a similar composition to 'domestic' comets.
I agree, it's premature to say what Oumuamua isn't... or is, for that matter.

a reply to: Ross 54

There is the mediocrity principle, which would hold that our solar system is likely to be largely typical of most others.

And yet, the more we learn about other star systems, it seems the odder they can be.

agree, it's premature to say what Oumuamua isn't.

There isn't much chance we will learn more than we have about it. Other than it's been on a very long journey and we happened be be able to say, "Oh. Hello."

I still think that the relative difficulty of detecting smaller planets, and ones with longer orbits, is biasing the kind of planetary systems we're finding. Close-in 'hot-Jupiters', and large planets in general are much easier to detect, so are all classes of planets with orbits substantially smaller than Earth's.

a reply to: LoneCloudHopper2

Chemical outgassing could be attracted towards our solar system, thus the expulsion from Oumuamua in just our direction. Explains the behavior irregardless of the tumble state.

It could also be an STP difference being utilized, even though it rotates there will still technically, always be a side that faces toward us, and a side that faces away. Even if those sides spin and change places, the axial vectors still exist as a functional system for entropy/energy concentration potential differences.

a reply to: Archivalist

The tumble might cancel out any Newtonian gain/loss of momentum. Unless the outgassing were only occuring in the opposite side only of tumbling comet...outgassing is unlikely since no outgassing was noticed as it passed closest to our star.

a reply to: KeithCooper

There is no requirement that the thrust be extended in duration. The acceleration was "preferentially" away from the sun, that means on average. I think.
www.spacetelescope.org...

Outgassing does not have to commence at perihelion. It can take a while for heat to penetrate the inert areas of the object to reach volatile ones.

a reply to: Phage

Its just been reported its turned round and is heading straight for the White House

a reply to: KeithCooper

Our instruments had a precision limit.

Grains of small enough size, would be invisible to all of the sensors, that we pointed at Oumuamua.

Outgassing can accommodate the model, and the small grain idea is the best way to make that fit. (More likely than any of the other possibilities.)

If you shave with Occam's razor, the important thing here is "We have a naturally occurring phenomena that CAN explain this, therefore, unless the status quo changes again, this phenomena is the main suspect.

a reply to: Phage

Hello, Phage. No, it is in fact "speeding up." And yes, the interview was that day. Perhaps it was replayed, but for me (in New Brunswick, Canada) the radio show episode I mentioned played that day. I don't make these things up

a reply to: Archivalist

Thanks for the inut. It's interesting for sure

I'm still personally inclined to believe the object is shooting like a bullet, and spinning clockwise or counterclockwise, as it shoots like a bullet.

This idea accounts for the reports of light differences indicating spinning.

However no one has explained why we should think it's tumbling head-over-foot, the way everyone shows it in animations.

I think it is portrayed that way because then it looks clumsy and unintelligent.

When you instead consider that it could be shooting in a nice straight path, like a bullet, then it bears much more resemblance to an intelligently-controlled object.

I'm also doubtful that nature would produce a tumbling clumsy motion in a long object like the animations show. If it's a long object then I would think it's much more likely for nature to settle it into a streamlined straight path that complements its shape.

a reply to: LoneCloudHopper2

No, it is in fact "speeding up."

No, it isn't.

In fact, it has not been observed since January.

It WAS indeed speeding up.

A BIZARRE “cigar-shaped” interstellar object hurtling through space is picking up speed, baffling scientists.

Karen said: “The more we study Oumuamua, the more exciting it gets. “I’m amazed at how much we have learned from a short, intense observing campaign. I can hardly wait for the next interstellar object.” Oumuamua is now farther away from our Sun than Jupiter and travelling away from the Sun at about 70,000mph as it heads toward the outskirts of the solar system. In only another four years, it will pass Neptune's orbit on its way back into interstellar space.

www.dailystar.co.uk...

`Oumuamua -- the first interstellar object discovered within our Solar System -- has been the subject of intense scrutiny since its discovery in October 2017. Now, by combining data from the ESO's Very Large Telescope and other observatories, an international team of astronomers has found that the object is moving faster than predicted. The measured gain in speed is tiny and `Oumuamua is still slowing down because of the pull of the Sun -- just not as fast as predicted by celestial mechanics.

www.sciencedaily.com...

It's visited our solar system, turned and is now leaving (even speeding up slightly) as it leaves. On top of which, it's cigar-shaped. As many of you may know, multiple UFO witnesses have reported a cigar-shaped object. Just after Stephen Hawking was looking for evidence of Oumuamua being an alien spaceship...
www.express.co.uk...
...this footage was catpured of two cigar-shaped UFO's.

Of course, these may have just experimental military aircraft, but it's an interesting coincidence.

Cigar-shaped UFO's have been sighted several times, sometimes with photo or video footage.

Of course, none of this proves that Oumuamua is an alien spacecraft, but there is definitely reason to think it may be (and Stephen Hawking thought so.) It's fascinating to think that perhaps we have been observing a rare (or rarely noticed) occurrence of this. And remember, scientists only noticed the thing by accident.

a reply to: Phage

Lol WAS.