Strike linked to an extrasolar asteroid: an Oumuamua astronomer claims that his exoplanet object touched the Earth in 2014 | Science | New



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When the interstellar object Oumuamua was discovered in 2017, he sent shockwaves throughout astronomy. The strange shape of the Oumuamua cigar and its origin in another solar system did not resemble anything before, which led Professor Abraham Loeb of Harvard University to theorize that the interstellar object could be an extraterrestrial probe. . And Professor Loeb once again hit the headlines after an incredible discovery: an extrasolar asteroid hit the Earth in 2014.

Loeb and his assistant undergrad, Amir Siraj, believe that space rocks traveling faster than expected could be sufficient evidence of the presence of an extrasolar visitor.

If the theory of their astrophysicist about this extrasolar asteroid proves to be correct, it will be the first known occurrence of an object from another star system ever to have affected our planet.

And what's even more incredible, Harvard space scientists think it's possible that this object even has evidence of extraterrestrial life.

Professor Loeb's team went through the Center for Near-Earth Objects research database, searching for asteroids moving faster than usual.

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The researchers found three positive results, two of which were rejected due to incomplete data.

The third described an asteroid whose width was slightly less than one meter and which was observed to be disintegrating in the atmosphere on 8 January 2014 at an altitude of 18 km over Papua New Guinea. Guinea.

The speed of the asteroid was measured at 216,000 km / h (135,000 mph).

Looking at his trajectory and backing away, Professor Loeb calculated that the asteroid was probably coming from outside the solar system.

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This would make the observation the first known example of extrasolar object struck the Earth.

The researchers reported that the high speed of the object indicates that it was probably thrown out of another star system.

And if that had been the case, he would have been reasonably close to his star at one point, deep inside a planetary system – potentially in his "Goldilocks Zone", which means that 39 there is a chance that he carries life.

The researchers wrote an article describing their findings, which they submitted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

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And although this theory is a long scientific reasoning, if fragments of this extrasolar object containing evidence of extraterrestrial life were discovered, it would be a discovery of unimaginable importance.

For this reason alone, it is necessary to speculate.

And even though it contained no evidence of life, recovering such an interstellar object would be pretty extraordinary.

There is a lot of "if" about this object, not to mention the extremely low chances of ever finding fragments that have survived the complete disintegration of our atmosphere.

The discovery nevertheless opens our eyes to the possibility of finding other objects like this one that may have hit the Earth in the past or could be later.

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