Oumuamua: Scientists perplexed by mysterious space rock as they try to rule out ‘alien spaceship’ idea
Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. ‘Oumuamua was first spotted in October 2017, and was quickly identified as the first interstellar object ever seen to have entered into our solar system. The alien spacecraft hypothesis is a fun idea, but our analysis suggests there is a whole host of natural phenomena that could explain it.” The rock moved through the solar system in an entirely unexpected way, mysteriously accelerating as it flew through the universe. “The motion of ‘Oumuamua didn’t simply follow gravity along a parabolic orbit as we would expect from an asteroid,” Dr Knight said. And we haven’t yet seen anything like ‘Oumuamua in our solar system.
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