A modest Proposal: Oumuamua is an Asbestos Body

[Canine]

In the interests of ruling out aliens and in attempt to account for the unforeseen trajectory changes, I propose that thin fibrous crystals comprise the bulk of that body.

Over time, micro impacts have served to 'fluff up' the object, further increasing its volume and decreasing its density.

This accounts for the behaviour changes without having to include an alien solar sail as Dr Loeb did when he posited that the body is a large solar sail of the following properties - as given to us by scientific american in their article on his paper:

Without making any crazy assumptions they show, using a simple calculation of mass, area and radiation pressure, that the observed acceleration would require 'Oumuamua to consist of a roughly millimeter thickness material with an overall size (cross-section) of the order of several tens of meters and with a mass around a thousand kilograms.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/life-unbounded/the-oumuamua-legacy/

Loeb's paper
https://arxiv.org/abs/1810.11490

mineral reference image

[zorgon]

Hmmm.. well it is OBVIOUSLY an Alien Spacecraft




exfoliating asbestos, eh?  Interesting theory but don't they have Spectrograph readings on it yet?

[zorgon]

eso1820 — Science Release
ESO's VLT Sees `Oumuamua Getting a Boost
New results indicate interstellar nomad `Oumuamua is a comet
27 June 2018


`Oumuamua, the first interstellar object discovered in the Solar System, is moving away from the Sun faster than expected. This anomalous behaviour was detected by a worldwide astronomical collaboration including ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile. The new results suggest that `Oumuamua is most likely an interstellar comet and not an asteroid. The discovery appears in the journal Nature.

`Oumuamua — the first interstellar object discovered within our Solar System — has been the subject of intense scrutiny since its discovery in October 2017 [1]. 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.

The team, led by Marco Micheli (European Space Agency) explored several scenarios to explain the faster-than-predicted speed of this peculiar interstellar visitor. The most likely explanation is that `Oumuamua is venting material from its surface due to solar heating — a behaviour known as outgassing [2]. The thrust from this ejected material is thought to provide the small but steady push that is sending `Oumuamua hurtling out of the Solar System faster than expected — as of 1 June 2018  it is traveling at roughly 114 000 kilometres per hour.

Such outgassing is a behaviour typical for comets and contradicts the previous classification of `Oumuamua as an interstellar asteroid. "We think this is a tiny, weird comet," commented Marco Micheli. "We can see in the data that its boost is getting smaller the farther away it travels from the Sun, which is typical for comets."

Usually, when comets are warmed by the Sun they eject dust and gas, which form a cloud of material — called a coma — around them, as well as the characteristic tail. However, the research team could not detect any visual evidence of outgassing.

"We did not see any dust, coma, or tail, which is unusual," explained co-author Karen Meech of the University of Hawaii, USA. Meech led the discovery team's characterisation of `Oumuamua in 2017.  "We think that 'Oumuamua may vent unusually large, coarse dust grains."

The team speculated that perhaps the small dust grains adorning the surface of most comets eroded during `Oumuamua's journey through interstellar space, with only larger dust grains remaining. Though a cloud of these larger particles would not be bright enough to be detected, it would explain the unexpected change to 'Oumuamua's speed.

Not only is `Oumuamua's hypothesised outgassing an unsolved mystery, but also its interstellar origin. The team originally performed the new observations on `Oumuamua to exactly determine its path which would have probably allowed it to trace the object back to its parent star system. The new results means it will be more challenging to obtain this information.

"The true nature of this enigmatic interstellar nomad may remain a mystery," concluded team member Olivier Hainaut, an astronomer at ESO. "`Oumuamua's recently-detected gain in speed makes it more difficult to be able to trace the path it took from its extrasolar home star."

https://www.eso.org/public/usa/news/eso1820/

[zorgon]

This animation shows the path of the interstellar asteroid 1I/2017 (`Oumuamua) through the Solar System. Observations with ESO's Very Large Telescope and others have shown that this unique object is dark, reddish in colour and highly elongated.

Credit:
ESO, M. Kornmesser, L.Calcada. Music: Mylonite - MRP (Mylonite Recordz Production)

[zorgon]

This animation, based on an artist's impression, shows the first interstellar object `Oumuamua. Hubble found `Oumuamua moving faster than expected. Researchers assume that venting material from its surface due to solar heating is responsible for the observed speed.

The animation also shows the tumbling motion of the object.

Credit:
ESA/Hubble, NASA, ESO, M. Kornmesser

[zorgon]

Astronomers have found that 'Oumuamua, the first interstellar object discovered in the Solar System, is moving away from the Sun faster than expected. Using data from ESO's Very Large Telescope, and from NASA/ESA's Hubble Space Telescope, a team of researchers concluded that 'Oumuamua is most likely outgassing — suggesting that this enigmatic interstellar nomad is a peculiar comet rather than an asteroid.

Credit:
ESO

[zorgon]

If a Scientist from Harvard says "it's an Alien Spaceship"  who are we to argue?

For decades we have been asking scientists to come forward and support such claims... well here we have one

Why the Harvard professor who claims Oumuamua is an alien probe STILL won't back down: Astronomer says he'll stand by claims until 'someone shows me evidence to the contrary'

'Many people expected once there would be this publicity, I would back down,' Loeb told The Washington Post.

'If someone shows me evidence of the contrary, I will immediately back down.'

The unusual object, which has since come to be known as Oumuamua, was first spotted in 2017 by a team of astronomers operating the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope on Haleakala, Hawaii.

It's the only confirmed interstellar visitor to date; the Hawaiian name 'Oumuamua translates to 'visitor from afar arriving first.'

Follow-up observations with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and other instruments suggested it may be an asteroid that was ejected from its home system.

After Hubble detected sunlight reflecting off the object's surface, NASA estimated the object to be thin and highly elongated, like a cosmic cigar that stretches roughly 2,600 feet (800 meters) at its longest.

The ejected asteroid hypothesis, however, so far can't explain Oumuamua's acceleration.

Loeb's extraterrestrial explanation attempts to fill the information gaps.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6670669/Why-Harvard-professor-claims-Oumuamua-alien-probe-wont-down.html

[zorgon]

from r/sciencefiction

[robomont]

this is officially my current favorite thread on peg.awesome canine,z!
ill go forward a little and take an educated guess its a giant carbon fibre craft thats fluffing off carbon.that the venting is residual components still active,that its ancient.that fluxliner grabbed samples.

lol.
just kidding.

its a shame its flyin away.
really odd shape.it could have some uv reactive element gassing.ice particles,shuttle sewage,mars atmosphere.no telling without samples.

[Canine]

That's not too far-fetched of a guess, Robo.

I too was spitballing the notion that the indicators of cyanobacteria on the object, particularly the reddish tinge discussed by astrobiologists in some of the articles, could actually be a cyanoacrylate signature.

That would be in keeping with your idea.

[robomont]

jaw dropping moment for robo!
ok am i missing something?
where did you get bacteria samples?
second,if so then i go with it.wow!
i got to wrap my mind around that.

[robomont]

am i guessing correct that laser inferometer has been used on the dust tail.or will earths current trajectory run us by the dust residue.
too bad we couldnt take a core sample and mass spec/carbon date.then we would know date of mfg and whether from alien or earth .

[WhatTheHey]

Over time, micro impacts have served to 'fluff up' the object, further increasing its volume and decreasing its density.

This accounts for the behaviour changes without having to include an alien solar sail as Dr Loeb did when he posited that the body is a large solar sail of the following

    Interesting idea, but if this object was to do as you propose (fluff up) it would in rapid fashion, become unstable. Giving its self weak structural integrity. Because it

would be impossible for there to be equilateral dispersal to its expansion do to impacts. This then would lead to a less uniform formation and be likely to cause breakup.

It does seem that this object may have an exceptional magnetic (gravity) attraction.

If it were to be comprised of iron and other metals within its mix (which most objects in space do contain) that are to begin with magnetic and which could have these

properties amplified by encounters with other magnetic fields (super charged) if you will.  This then could account for changes in trajectory.  A small gravitational object

with an extremely high gravity of its own, moving about through the gravitational fields of all the large bodies could their by have its trajectory changed.  Especially if

the gravity fields of this object are not evenly distributed in intensity throughout its form, it would react in unpredictable ways to encounters with other gravity fields. ie.

planets ect...  Indeed even small objects could have enough field interaction to create course change.

It sure is a strange space bird....lol

[ArMaP]

I too was spitballing the notion that the indicators of cyanobacteria on the object, particularly the reddish tinge discussed by astrobiologists in some of the articles, could actually be a cyanoacrylate signature.

What indicators of cyanobacteria? Do you have a reference for that?

[ArMaP]

It does seem that this object may have an exceptional magnetic (gravity) attraction.

Why?

If it were to be comprised of iron and other metals within its mix (which most objects in space do contain) that are to begin with magnetic and which could have these

properties amplified by encounters with other magnetic fields (super charged) if you will.

Magnetism is a week force when compared with gravity.

This then could account for changes in trajectory.  A small gravitational object

with an extremely high gravity of its own, moving about through the gravitational fields of all the large bodies could their by have its trajectory changed.

That would create changes in the other objects' orbits, the influence of a strong gravity is easy to detect,

Especially if

the gravity fields of this object are not evenly distributed in intensity throughout its form, it would react in unpredictable ways to encounters with other gravity fields. ie.

planets ect...

No, regardless of how the gravity field is distributed, all objects have a fixed centre of gravity, unless they are changing their mass.