Thank you for the article and welcome.

Thanks for a great summary on Oumuamua. I hadn't been aware that it seems to be accelerating as it leaves the system.

The last line of the article hit home for me.

If we never look, the probability of finding ET is zero.

Unless of course they find us first, though any one want to put odds on that?

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Carl Kruse
SETI League

I found your post fascinating. I hope my comments do not paint me as some kind of Sci-Fi junkie, my degree is in IT so my knowledge of astronomy and astrophysics could fit in a thimble. But one part of your post referred to the "Visitor" having an orbit that took it around the Sun. As a fan of Science Fiction I could not help but remember the often used literary device of "Sling Shooting" around the sun to achieve speeds capable of achieving Time Travel. While the Visitor is not quite at that velocity, it makes me wonder what might happen if some one actually did it on purpose? The Visitor is accelerating, perhaps this is the boost that is causing the phenomenon? I'll need to sit down and read everything further, because it peaks my inquisitive mind.

Yes I remember the press about the I A. Course changes seemed weird by some but wow! Welcome and Thank You.

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http://allprojectstats.com/ts122724x15a.png

See the recent article in Quanta: https://www.quantamagazine.org/galaxy-simulations-offer-a-new-solution-to-the-fermi-paradox-20190307

Seth Shostak's comment at the end is pertinent. When we discover SETI, will we even recognize it?

For a philosopher, all human inquiry degenerates into epistemology.

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additude, You made a good point, ALMOST ran into our star. Great observation! Was this a form of a gravity slingshot procedure, or navigation correction? I know to answer would take a level of understanding the path of the sun, and the object, that I'm not trained in to answer. We have a forum that has the skills to conjecture this problem. Any thoughts on this by anyone?

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If something accelerates there must be a force acting on it, otherwise it would maintain the same speed.
Tullio

The original article by Dr Lawn is certainly most interesting, and as I read through the following comments I came across this one which I believe refers to the apparent acceleration of the visitor. Oumuamua.
One would think that there would need to be a force acting on it to achieve this, but could it not be the force originating from the Big Bang, which I believe is the same force that is causing the universe to continually expand, and at an accelerating rate? ... and was mentioned I think by another contributor?

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Robert Chalmers
https://robert-chalmers.uk
@R_A_Chalmers

Here's some Information I found is Interesting: https://news.yale.edu/2019/03/12/new-theory-oumuamua-its-comet-rocks

It was just a rock from interstellar space. I'm quite sure this happens often.

That seems most likely. The problem is we haven't seen many of them. So when you have one rock from interstellar space in the lifetime of our current technological civilization, it seems to be "rare".

Tom

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A proud member of the OFA (Old Farts Association).

Seems to me that the best way to explore the universe is to send probes that flit from galaxy to galaxy.
You need to speed up in interstellar space, slow down and scan each galaxy as they whip through and slingshot out to the next destination.
Report back after each encounter. Allowing home base to explore only the interesting data. Plus you can send out huge numbers of probes.

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video from spaces-deepest-secrets.
aired a couple of nights ago.

Enjoy!
https://www.space.com/spaces-deepest-secrets-oumuamua-video.html
'Space's Deepest Secrets' Probes Mystery of 'Oumuamua Tonight (Video)


The Science Channel series "Space's Deepest Secrets" returns tonight (March 19) at 10 p.m. EDT with a look at a mysterious interstellar visitor.

In 2017, scientists spotted a gigantic rocky object, about the size and shape of a skyscraper, hurtling through our solar system. And they soon discovered that this terrific space rock didn't originate within the eight-planet system we call home. Instead, it comes from another solar system. The scientists, who saw the rock through the University of Hawaii's Pan-STARRS1 telescope, called it 'Oumuamua, which means "a messenger from afar arriving first."

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