In 2017, a cigar-shaped object named 'Oumuamua [OH-MOO-uh-MOO-uh] drifted in from another
solar system.
Some people think it was a flying saucer, others are planning missions to land on it,
and all the while, the "object" itself is just drifting further away.
Here's the untold truth of the interstellar object known as 'Oumuamua.
When 'Oumuamua was discovered in October of 2017, its unusual shape led to it being commonly
referred to as a "space cigar" - which probably got a lot of cigar fans excited until they
realized they couldn't light it up, much less puff on it.
C'mon, guys.
Anyhow, the reason that the sighting of this space cigar mattered is because it marked
the very first time that a verified "interstellar object" from outside the solar system had
ever been discovered.
Now, in a sci-fi movie, foreboding music would play as brain-eating arachnids swarmed out
from its surface, but in real life, the scientific community just got jazzed about how weird
this thing was.
The experts found it odd enough that 'Oumuamua, which is about the size and shape of the Empire
State Building, had no "coma" - AKA the cloud of dust and gas that buzzes around comets
as they near the sun.
Add in the surfboard shape, reddish hue, and the potential for frozen water inside it,
and you end up with a landmark discovery that, to this day, people are still scratching their
heads over.
'Oumuamua was named as such by the Hawaiian Pan-STARRS team who first spotted it.
Fittingly enough, it's a Hawaiian word, the meaning of which roughly translates to "scout
reaching out from the distant past to us."
Before receiving the official name 'Oumuamua, though, scientists informally called it Rama.
Why?
In science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke's 1973 novel Rendezvous with Rama, an interstellar
object called Rama crosses through our solar system in much the same way - and in an eerie
coincidence, Rama even has a similar oblong shape to 'Oumuamua.
If you want to get really technical, though, the official designation for 'Oumuamua is
1I, with the "I" marking it as the first Interstellar object.
When 'Oumuamua first tumbled onto humankind's telescope screens, it got the entire scientific
community firing on all cylinders.
Why?
Because nobody could quite figure out what it was.
“Dear god, what is that thing?"
Some speculated it might be a zombie comet, which might sound like something from a Doom
game, but is actually a creepy nickname for when a comet gets obliterated by the sun,
leaving just dusty remnants in its wake.
Other researchers pondered whether it might be a planetesimal, which is what you call
a hunk of rock that gets separated from a real planet: think of how Superman's homeworld
of Krypton got blown into tiny smithereens of kryptonite, and you'll get the basic idea.
Other scientists suggested that it should be considered a new class of space object
altogether.
Scientists are still debating exactly what is, though most now consider it a type of
comet.
But there's another theory, of course...
Admit it: you've been thinking it's aliens the whole time, right?
Well, don't worry, you're not the only ones.
Pretty much as soon as 'Oumuamua arrived, the people of Earth bit their collective fingers,
wondering if this might finally be an alien spaceship everyone is waiting for.
Initially, the scientific community brushed off such speculation.
That changed when Avi Loeb, the head of Harvard University's astronomy department, jumped
into the fray, according to NBC News.
Loeb didn't necessarily believe that 'Oumuamua was an artificial alien structure, per se,
but he used his prestige to point out that scientists should at least be open to the
possibility.
As Loeb put it,
"The point of doing science is not to have a prejudice."
As a result, researchers at the Breakthrough Listen project probed 'Oumuamua for signals
that would indicate alien life.
Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on your point of view - the response was negative.
“After pouring over the data, an international team of researchers wrote that 'we find no
compelling evidence to favor an alien explanation.'"
That doesn't mean there isn't any life on 'Oumuamua, though, just no intelligent life
as we understand it.
There's still the possibility the object has alien microbes: if 'Oumuamua has an icy core,
which is a very big if, conditions could be right for bacteria which can theoretically
survive for millions of years.
So if you ever find yourself digging into 'Oumuamua's crust, just… bring some hand
sanitizer.
'Oumuamua and Luke Skywalker have more in common than you might think.
No, really.
Both 'Oumuamua and Luke have trekked across the universe with peaceful intentions.
Both of them changed the status quo in their own respective ways.
Their most striking similarity, according to a study published by the Monthly Notices
of the Royal Astronomical Society, is that 'Oumuamua also likely originates from a "binary"
solar system - AKA, one that orbits around two suns, instead of one - just like on Luke's
home sweet home, Tatooine.
Just where that system is, though, nobody knows.
And where it will end up is a matter of speculation as well.
It's estimated that it will take 'Oumuamua another 20,000 years to completely leave our
solar system, on its way to parts unknown.
With so many questions about 'Oumuamua, there's really only one way to answer them: fly out
to the darn thing and have a look!
And that's what Project Lyra is all about.
Project Lyra is a plan to hypothetically intercept 'Oumuamua on its way back out of the solar
system to gather data.
Using existing or near-term technology, Project Lyra believes it would be feasible to launch
a probe to 'Oumuamua sometime after 2024.
So will it happen?
So far, there are no concrete plans, but here's hoping.
After all, this is one space cigar that isn't just going to smoke itself.
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