Many astronomers are looking for aliens. That’s why we hear so much about exoplanets—and the more Earth-like they are, the more interesting they become.
There’s also the lavishly-funded $100 million Breakthrough Listen scientific research project has radio astronomers listening for messages from the 1,000,000 closest stars to Earth and the 100 closest galaxies.
So the idea that our Solar System may be visited by as many as seven interstellar objects each year should fascinate anyone concerned with SETI—the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
Not that “extrasolar” objects passing through our Solar System are advanced technology, a wild theory proffered by Professor Avi Loeb about ’Oumuamua (also known as 1I/2017 U1), the first known interstellar object detected in 2017.
’Oumuamua is not an artificial creation of an advanced civilization, but that doesn’t make it un-interesting. Discovered on October 19, 2017 by the Pan-STARRS1 Near-Earth Object survey, ’Oumuamua challenged astronomers’ assumptions about how small bodies from another star system would look. It moved too fast to be an asteroid, in fact it was accelerating, it left no trail of debris—so couldn’t be an icy comet—and it also varied in brightness.
Does any of that make ’Oumuamua an alien spacecraft? No, it doesn’t. ’Oumuamua was found as it was leaving the Solar System. It was a spectacular discovery, but it was faint. It was observed only for a short time. We didn’t get much data on it. For such a unique object, that was frustrating. After all, missions to other star systems are generations away.
What data we did get was consistent with a purely natural origin for ’Oumuamua; it varied in brightness because it was oddly sausage-shaped and spinning, and for the same reason it heated unevenly, which might explain its acceleration. As one paper puts it, ’Oumuamua is entirely explicable as a fragment expelled from its parent planetary system by gravitational interaction at any time in the history of the galaxy.
Still, the same scientists that were intrigued by ’Oumuamua—and in 2018 by another interstellar visitor, the 2l/Borisov “rogue comet”—would love to get their telescopes on as many visitors from other star systems as possible.
Cue a paper that uses data from the Gaia satellite to predict that seven fast-moving objects from other star system—like ’Oumuamua—should pass within 1 AU (astronomical unit) of the Sun each year. An AU is the distance from the Earth to the Sun. The paper also predicts that interstellar comets like 2I/Borisov could be a once-per-decade event—and that three objects per century could even be from other galaxies.
Oumuamua comet, interstellar object passing through the Solar System, unusual shaped asteroid
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All-sky synoptic surveys such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory are expected to discover several interstellar interlopers per year. However, only if they’re detected early—far earlier than ’Oumuamua was—could such an object be visited by a spacecraft.
“We propose an intercept mission for interesting interstellar interlopers that would be ready to launch in case a target of opportunity presents itself,” reads a NASA-sponsored paper published earlier this month about the search for the “techno-signatures” from alien civilisations. “If the target is detected with sufficient lead time, thanks to the new survey facilities, it may be possible to catch it within 20 years.”
To catch these terrifically fast-moving objects a spacecraft would have to be launched as the object rounded the Sun. Astronomers would therefore need to spot such an object as it entered the Solar System, something the Vera C. Rubin Observatory may be able to do.
Such a mission has the potential to radically change what we know about our place within the Universe. After all, a mission to intercept an interstellar object that passes through our Solar System could yield similar results to interstellar travel—something that could take many centuries to launch let alone yield results from.
Sometimes it’s best to wait for the Universe to come to you.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
