Interstellar Object 'Oumuamua' is 'Unexpectedly' Speeding Up

NASA say observations by Hubble show the interstellar space ship ( sorry , object) is speeding up and changing trajectory as it heads home.

Nasa​ have said observations from their Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed the interstellar object, Oumuamua, has had an “unexpected boost in speed and shift in trajectory as it passes through the inner solar system.”

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 boost has left scientists scratching their head as to what could be causing the increase in speed, but early analysis shows some theories.
www.standard.co.uk...

Of course their theories center around the hypothesis that Oumuamua is a comet and the changes are brought about by venting of gas and dust but as no such venting has been observed in their observations they miss the more prosaic explanation that Oumuamua has engaged it's impulse engines ready for it's return home with the data on our solar system it has collected .... maybe.

Not sayin it's Aliens but ....

It's high time ET showed up, we've been waiting a while for something, anything down here.

It might be aliens, why not.

is speeding up

I'm sorry to say, no. It is not speeding up.

But the good news is, it's not slowing down as much as it would if it were purely ballistic.

It's all in the true meaning of "acceleration."

a reply to: Phage

Come on Phage , you know as well as I do that Oumuamua is an Alien probe.
Admit it , you'll feel better.

a reply to: gortex

Nowhere. Not once, have I said it is not an alien probe.

I am very stoked that aliens are Hawaiian.

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: Phage

Come on Phage , you know as well as I do that Oumuamua is an Alien probe.
Admit it , you'll feel better.

i do my best to avoid all alien probes. I would suggest you do the same.

We know that Polynesians have been voyagers for centuries. On Earth.

They navigated by the stars.

That's just astrogation in 2 dimensions.

Looks as if that "probe" was launched down the toilet toward what the aliens feel is the septic tank of the Universe...

a reply to: Gothmog

Looks as if that "probe" was launched down the toilet toward what the aliens feel is the septic tank of the Universe...

Good one.
You said, septic.

On coast to coast they were talking about the thing speeding up after it passed Saturn... Bill Burns was interviewed.. I was wondering if someone would take the time to post...

Phage is probably correct as speed is a relative concept in some ways or our astrophysics kinda sucks.

Just a foot note... There have been no actual pictures of the object and everything you see picture wise is an artist conception based upon the light reflective properties observed when it was closer in... Something I did not know personally. Everything I have read says it was tumbling; spin it to keep you feet on the inside surface... I guess they do not have artificial gravity in that case... Primitives !! We should broadcast Star Trek or Star Wars at them and scare them off..

originally posted by: 727Sky
On coast to coast they were talking about the thing speeding up after it passed Saturn... Bill Burns was interviewed.. I was wondering if someone would take the time to post...

Phage is probably correct as speed is a relative concept in some ways or our astrophysics kinda sucks.

Just a foot note... There have been no actual pictures of the object and everything you see picture wise is an artist conception based upon the light reflective properties observed when it was closer in... Something I did not know personally. Everything I have read says it was tumbling; spin it to keep you feet on the inside surface... I guess they do not have artificial gravity in that case... Primitives !! We should broadcast Star Trek or Star Wars at them and scare them off..

How many times did Bill Burns promote his book on coast to coast? How many book promotions did you hear (if you listened to all of the program) this evening on coast to coast?

Yeah....

originally posted by: Phage

Good one.
You said, septic.

I know , the old red underline got me....
Yet , I hope our solar system is , with that giant t&rd incoming
Dang , I am still correct even in being incorrect.

By the way , what happened to the old "It's a rock" Phage...????

a reply to: 727Sky

On coast to coast they were talking about the thing speeding up after it passed Saturn.

That would make sense, since it was getting closer to the Sun at the time.

Phage is probably correct as speed is a relative concept in some ways or our astrophysics kinda sucks.

Speed is relative. But the thing is, in physics, the term acceleration doesn't mean speeding up. It means a change in velocity. Any change. It means "speeding up", it means "slowing down", it means changing direction. It means a force is being exerted on an object. In this case that force is causing (caused) the object to not slow down quite as much as it should of, had there been no force but the gravity of the Sun acting upon it.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: 727Sky

On coast to coast they were talking about the thing speeding up after it passed Saturn.

That would make sense, since it was getting closer to the Sun at the time.

Phage is probably correct as speed is a relative concept in some ways or our astrophysics kinda sucks.

Speed is relative. But the thing is, in physics, the term acceleration doesn't mean speeding up. It means a change in velocity. Any change. It means "speeding up", it means "slowing down", it means changing direction. It means a force is being exerted on an object. In this case that force is causing (caused) the object to no slow down quite as much as it should of, had there been no force but the gravity of the Sun acting upon it.

Come on phage... even though speed is a relative concept... acceleration and decelleration are two different things.

a reply to: EternalSolace

acceleration and decelleration are two different things.

Never took a physics class? Not even high school?
Deceleration is not really a thing. In physics. It's a change in vectors. Acceleration.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: 727Sky

On coast to coast they were talking about the thing speeding up after it passed Saturn.

That would make sense, since it was getting closer to the Sun at the time.

Phage is probably correct as speed is a relative concept in some ways or our astrophysics kinda sucks.

Speed is relative. But the thing is, in physics, the term acceleration doesn't mean speeding up. It means a change in velocity. Any change. It means "speeding up", it means "slowing down", it means changing direction. It means a force is being exerted on an object. In this case that force is causing (caused) the object to not slow down quite as much as it should of, had there been no force but the gravity of the Sun acting upon it.

Yes yes yes but for the wu wu factor saying it sped up makes for a more interesting narrative without all the science... I just figured it got a sling shot effect off one of the outer planets..if it sped up/changed vector, at all...

a reply to: 727Sky

That's the thing though. Scientists are actually fascinated by this thing. It's weird. It's a visitor from "out there." Really, really out there.

At first it looked like a rock. It sure acted like a rock. An oddly shaped rock, but a rock. Then, holy crap, it should be slowing down more than it is. What the hell?! Rocks don't do that!

But "consumer science" sets in, and now it's "speeding up." Because "not speeding up like it should", is boring. For some reason.

Or, they never took a physics class.

a reply to: gortex

Not sayin it's Aliens but ....

this object is the same one which was already speeding off towards the Constellation Pegasus
~before revisionist history snatched up the object~ and the discovery of the space rock was modified from 9 September 2017 to the 19 October 2017 date attributed to the Hawaiian Pan-STARRS Telescope


recent: www.forbes.com...

It's too bad that we do not have a ready fleet of probes to send to stuff like this. Load into a rocket, send it up, have a good hard look. The approach of "we gotta build this from scratch" is too damn slow and laborious, really.