Comet C/2017 U1 - MPC compute may be first observed interstellar comet?

[gary]

Kelly Beatty reports today that C/2017 U1, first spotted on October 18th 2017, may, according to preliminary findings of the Minor Planet Center (MPC),
be the first observed interstellar comet.

See http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/astronomers-spot-first-known-interstellar-comet/

[geolindon]

An update on follow up results = its probably 10x longer than wide :eyepop:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/meet-oumuamua-the-interstellar-cigar/

[xelasnave]

Thanks again Gary for posting all this exciting stuff.
I can't understand how this thing can have an orbit if its from interstellar space...I may have missed it but do they suggest anywhere what is the center of the orbit...it can only orbit in relation to the solar system and outside of that I expect it would orbit the center of the galaxy in the same way we do.
Curious.
Alex

[geolindon]

G day Alex,

i agree, this is really cool stuff. i held off responding thinking a real boffin would - none has so here is my take.

i sourced places like NASA, Wikipedia and S&T (and their references) - so not sure exactly where i came up with the following;
The Solar System is likely the first star system that ʻOumuamua has encountered since being ejected from its birth star system potentially several billion years ago.

so i think it would be "rogue" and randomly moving around though at similar speed as our neighbouring stars. it seems there is a substantial population of "rogue" bodies of all/most types.

cool to wonder: wot are the odds of it close encountering the Sun and where is it off to after its sling?

keep an eye out, L

[xelasnave]

Hi Lyndon
Thank you for taking the time to look into the information available on this object.
Alex

[geolindon]

On average, a 150 m space rock hits Earth every 16,000 years and makes a 2.4 km crater. We sure didn't see this one coming.

What confidence we had in NEO monitoring to keep us safer must now be reduced.

[xelasnave]

How much TNT to blow such a hole?
Alex

[OICURMT]

One of my favorite videos of asteroid discoveries, dated 2010... I wish there were an updated (2017) version. Though there is a current map (http://szyzyg.arm.ac.uk/~spm/neo_map.html) (2016).

Just noticed that there is a 8K version updated to 2015...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKKg4lZ_o-Y

Late Edit : 01DEC2017

Trolling around the 'net and found this gem...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_X_0RikAPw

[gary]

In the Guardian today (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/11/astronomers-to-check-interstellar-body-for-signs-of-alien-technology), Science Editor, Ian Sample, reports that the
Green Bank radiotelescope in West Virginia is going to have a listen, just
in case there are any radio signals being emitted from the cigar-shaped object.



Article here :-
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/11/astronomers-to-check-interstellar-body-for-signs-of-alien-technology

[OICURMT]

Reality imitating fiction... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendezvous_with_Rama

I still maintain that this trilogy (+1) would make a GREAT series of movies. I'm disappointed it hasn't been done yet.

[gary]

Nola Taylor Redd has a December 13, 2017 article (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/oddball-object-tumbling-among-the-stars-could-disrupt-planetary-science/)at Scientific American
on how ‘Oumuamua, could be a bonanza for researchers.





https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/oddball-object-tumbling-among-the-stars-could-disrupt-planetary-science/

[geolindon]

So the Greenbank Listeners countenanced that this maybe a "spacecraft" seriously enough to invest 10+ hours of precious 'scope time :question:

at first i scoffed, but then in the interest of science, ya neva know! i am for going against the wagon/commonly held idea. then i scoffed again :screwy:

soz Alex, didya work out how big a mtn of TNT required?

L

[xelasnave]

Three times as much as deemed safe.
Alex

[gary]

In a paper in Nature Astronomy today (http://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-017-0361-4), Fitzsimmons et. al. report spectroscopic
analysis shows that an icy interior with a mantle crust for the object -
consistent with the types of insulating mantle produced by
long-term cosmic ray exposure for objects in our own outer Solar System -
cannot be ruled out.

So if it needs to be neatly placed in a category box, it may be classified
as a comet despite the lack of outburst as it rounded the Sun.



Paper here (requires subscription) :-
http://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-017-0361-4

Story by Tereza Pultarova at space.com :-
https://www.space.com/39129-oumuamua-interstellar-object-comet-in-disguise.html

[geolindon]

a nice update by S&T

some early postulations were a bit too quick off to print.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/solar-system/oumuamua-red-tumbling-and-silent/

'The Green Bank search didn't turn up any radio "beacons" or other transmissions in narrow frequency bands, though the analysis of three of the bands isn't complete. Honestly, the Breakthrough Listen team didn't expect to pick up alien broadcasts from this interloper — but, hey, why not try, right?'