The mysterious enigma of interstellar objects intensifies as NASA reveals that she had not initially seen it

The mystery of Oumuamua, the first interstellar object ever detected in our solar system, has taken a new and unexpected twist and it is from someone you can not expect – NASA.

In a new study published in the Astronomical JournalThe government space agency revealed that when it examined the interstellar object in November with its Spitzer space telescope, it found nothing.

"Oumuamua was too weak for Spitzer to detect when he looked more than two months after the closest approach to the object. [sic]on Earth early September, "said NASA in a statement accompanying the study." However, the "non-detection" imposes a new limit on the size of the strange object. "

A MYSTERIOUS INTERSTELLAR OBJECT COULD BE "LIGHTSAIL" FROM ANOTHER CIVILIZATION

NASA also noted that Oumuamua, the Hawaiian name for "pathfinder" or "scout", was extremely bright, perhaps up to 10 times more reflective than the comets that are usually found in our solar system.

"Oumuamua has traveled interstellar space for millions of years, far from any star that could cool its surface," NASA said in its statement. "But its surface may have been refreshed by such" outgassing "when it came very close to our Sun, just over five weeks before its discovery. In addition to removing dust and dirt, some of the released gas may have covered the surface of Oumuamua with a reflective layer of ice and snow, a phenomenon also observed in the comets of our solar system. "

The abstract of the study only adds to the plot as to why NASA never saw it when it pointed its telescope at the object in November.

"Both our size and outgassing limits are important because" Oumuamua's trajectory shows non-gravitational accelerations sensitive to size and mass and probably caused by gas emissions, "reads in the abstract. the study. "We suggest that Umuamua had a low-level, volatile emission after perihelion that produced a fresh, bright, icy coat."

NASA added that it was limiting the amount of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide expected from the object, but that another species of gas – "probably H2O" – was in the air. origin of "observed non-gravitational acceleration".

Oumuamua was discovered in October 2017 by Canadian physicist and astronomer Robert Weryk.

A MYSTERIOUS INTERSTELLAR OBJECT IS NOT AN ALIEN PROBE, SAYS THE ASTRRONOME WHO WILL DISCOVER IT

Because of the varying degrees of luminosity emanating from the surface of Oumuamua, NASA suggests that it is "very elongated and probably less than half a mile (2,600 feet) in its largest dimension".

The plot of what Oumuamua is or has not captured has grown considerably in recent weeks, especially since some researchers have speculated that it could be an object of an extraterrestrial civilization.

A study by the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics indicates that the object could be "an artificial light sail" sent by another civilization. "Considering an artificial origin, one of the possibilities is that" Oumuamua is a veil of light, floating in interstellar space as a debris of advanced technological equipment, "wrote researchers Shmuel Bialy and Abraham Loeb .

Weryk called this idea absurd and just "wild speculation", although he noted that the speed of the object was unusual.

"There is a maximum speed at which you can travel gravitationally by the sun," Weryk said in an interview with Canadian television channel CBC. "When we saw this object for the first time, it was traveling faster than that. So we know it's outside our solar system. We decided it was a comet whose degassing was not visible from the ground, so it did not seem like a comet. "

He added: "(Harvard researchers) have decided to focus on another aspect: the fact that it is an extraterrestrial spacecraft and that it has a solar sail-like material that causes the non-gravitational trajectory. But we actually think that's not true based on the data we've got. "

In an e-mail to Fox News, Loeb said that his article and Bialy's article "were trying to explain the excessive force" that had acted on Oumuamua when he was observed and that Weryk's reaction "showed prejudice".

COMETS AND ASTEROIDS MAY LIVE LIFE ALL ABOUT GALAXY, STUDY FIND

"Our article follows the standard scientific methodology: an anomaly is observed in the data, the standard explanation does not explain it and an alternative interpretation is proposed," writes Loeb in the e-mail. "I encourage anyone who has a better explanation to write an article about it and publish it. Any misinterpretation can be ruled out when more data on Oumuamua or other members of its population are released in the future. A reaction of the type you quoted shows a prejudice. "

NASA has always claimed that it was a "metallic or rocky object" and probably a comet.

So, will we ever know more about why he was so bright or why he has unusual acceleration?

THE INTERSTELLARY VISITOR "OUMUAMUA" SHOULD NEVER HAVE RETURNED HOME, SAYS THEORY

"Usually, if we get a weird measure of a comet, we measure it again until we understand what we're seeing," said Davide Farnocchia of NASA, a co-author of the study. . "But this one is gone forever; we probably know as much as we will ever know. "

Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @Chris_Ciaccia

6