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| An artist's rendering of Oumuamua |
Translated loosely from Hawaiian, Oumuamua means "scout" or "messenger". As a news maker it was barely noticed by the public. In the literal rarefied world of astronomy it was kind of a big deal though not meant to be more than a flash in the cosmological pan. But the story just won't die as quickly as it came and went. Indeed, in that sense the "messenger" swooped in and off it went, leaving everyone who cared with their mouth still agape, and today scratching their heads and still wondering, "what was that?"
Astronomer Karen J. Meech's presentation on Oumuamua on Ted Talk had over 3 million views, and counting. The number of views is so far about half the viewing record of a Ted broadcast but it could go up as more and more data or speculation on the subject keep coming. You see, Karen Meech and other astronomers and astrobiologists did not rule out the possibility that Oumuamua had artificial origins, as minuscule as the odds were.
So, what was all the hoopla? Oumuamua is the first ever interstellar visitor to our solar system. Incredible as it seems, it is true because comets and asteroids are, in a manner of speaking, all part of our neck of the woods. Comets, though rare because of their extremely elongated elliptical orbits, are still regular visitors, and asteroids are ubiquitous stragglers from the early moments of the creation of our solar system.
Oumuamua came from another star system.
That is a big deal because even if it came from our closest neighboring star, it would have taken it a couple of hundreds of thousands of years from there to get here (assuming it was traveling at the presumed limited speed of objects the size that it was, and as estimated based on its actual transit). Even light at 186,000 miles per second would take over four years to make the journey from Proxima Centauri - one of the triple-star system of Alpha Centauri, our closest stellar neighbor.
But that is not the biggest thing. Oumuamua brought to light once more - reinforcing the recurring theme of E.T. - the proverbial wishful thinking of not just science fiction writers but by over half of the population in the U.S. (and presumed for the whole world) who believe in UFO's and extraterrestrial life permeating the universe. But was Oumuamua no different from faces and familiar objects gleaned or perceived by people from cloud formations? Are people still being influenced by childhood predisposition to seeing faces or animal features in natural objects?
First, this: 52 per cent or so of people polled in the U.S. believe in the existence of beings other than those on earth and that there is a possibility that some had visited our world in the past, are visiting us today and may in fact even come in the future. Of the entire population, slightly over 80 per cent responded as believing in God and only about 3 per cent are self described atheists. We can assume the rest are agnostics. They just don't know. Obviously, there is an overlap in the statistics which may leave us to assume that some faithful believers, agnostics and atheists believe in UFO's or E.T. There are many who believe that "Project Blue Book" was a U.S. government (U.S. Air Force in particular) cover up on the existence of UFO's or even of actual physical evidence of extraterrestrial technology and, above all, the existence of physiological remains of E. T.
Well, it shall remain speculative at this point in time and conspiracy theories continue unabated. Oumuamua rekindled that. But what is really known?
That all we have is an artist rendering (above) speaks to the fact that astronomers really did not have a good look at it. It was too far. It snuck in and out and the actual image was a flickering light across the night sky. It was determined to be an extra terrestrial object because of its trajectory coming in and out and along almost a perpendicular path to the plane of the solar system. It did make a sling shot around the sun but did not behave like a comet. Those who make it their business to know celestial trajectories believe that Oumuamua made a one time pass.
Now, how did astronomers guess at the likely shape of Oumuamua? Based on the flickering intensity of the light it reflected towards earth-based telescopes, scientists figured that the object was either rotating or tumbling aimlessly but that it had a thin edge and the ratio of its length to its width was about 10 to 1. It is a guess though an educated one. But there is a bit of science to it.
As of today, with increasing accuracy, astronomers have detected close to a thousand exoplanets - planets orbiting other stars. How they know that is with the use of very sensitive light detectors that are able to measure the dimming of starlight caused by a planet transiting in front of its star. It is akin to detecting a moth flying across a street lamp from some distance away and the detector is able to measure the temporary dimming of the light when it reaches the telescope. The process is complicated and the collection of data tedious but it has now come to a point where scientists are able to calculate how fast a planet is orbiting the star and how close but also its mass based on another detector that determines the wobble of the star. Suffice it to say, the science works with the same facility as extrapolating data collected on Mercury's transit across the sun.
So, Oumuamua was either a natural celestial visitor or a manufactured alien object or, dare I say, a spacecraft. Well, that stretch of the imagination might be going too far but because this is a musing with a primary task to tickle your imagination, let us then at least look into E.T. from a tangential perspective.
First, let me say this. I believe in the magnificence of creation, and the God who created all of what we can see around us and everything we can imagine. It is a limiting belief to believe that this earth and this earth alone harbors life, life as we know it or even life we have not even began to imagine. It is much too egocentric on our part to believe that the universe of two trillion galaxies is just for us alone. To say that, and to only believe that, is actually limiting the power of the Creator. To also believe that the creation of life is one instantaneous event and exclude the deliberate development of life over a prolonged period encompassing all life forms in diverging and diverse manifestations is also limiting the power of the Creator. You see, to believe in the Creator and to have absolute faith is to believe in God's infinite power to do anything and everything, far beyond what we can only imagine. Having said that, until we see incontrovertible evidence of alien life we cannot rush to believe in it either. That is because, and this might seem contradictory, it is God's choice alone to decide whether to create life on earth and on earth alone or in every location across the universe. But we don't know that. We are indeed limited by the uncertainty principle. So, we can either believe our little earth is the only place with life or life exists in prolific diversity everywhere else. Until we know for sure, uncertainty is the only certainty.
So, where does that leave us? We are very fortunate to be living at a time that is now. We are seeing and experiencing so many things today that a century ago, more so ten to a hundred centuries ago, would have been miraculously magical. The average high school senior today knows more than Isaac Newton ever could have known. But do not lose sight of the fact that the more we know seems to expand the breath and magnitude of what we still do not know. Below is a quote about Halley's comet.
"In 1066, the comet was seen in England and thought to be an omen: later that year Harold II of England died at the Battle of Hastings; it was a bad omen for Harold, but a good omen for the man who defeated him, William the Conqueror".
We know, of course, of many more instances of good or bad omens from the night sky, as interpreted contemporaneously by those witnessing the events then that we know today were mere coincidences with no real causal effects beyond the natural. Today is no different. Oumuamua is treated by some as a harbinger of future potential alien visitation. It was on a spying mission. Or, it may already have left behind in its trail something that could conceivably affect life here.
This is where we need to take a pause. This is where we put the brakes on a runaway imagination. This is also where we reinforce our ability to be awed by the vastness of the universe and how infinitely small our role is in the greater scheme of things. But this is also where we take stock of the reality that even for the huge expanse of our solar system ours is a mere speck of dust lost in the swirl of the Milky Way. If we treat all inhabitants of our little world as fellow passengers on a life raft that is speeding across the cosmos to destinations unknown, we may think differently. Indeed, we ought to because the journey is fraught with uncertainty. What we know for certain is of little consequence to what is infinitely unknown.
Astronomer Karen J. Meech's presentation on Oumuamua on Ted Talk had over 3 million views, and counting. The number of views is so far about half the viewing record of a Ted broadcast but it could go up as more and more data or speculation on the subject keep coming. You see, Karen Meech and other astronomers and astrobiologists did not rule out the possibility that Oumuamua had artificial origins, as minuscule as the odds were.
So, what was all the hoopla? Oumuamua is the first ever interstellar visitor to our solar system. Incredible as it seems, it is true because comets and asteroids are, in a manner of speaking, all part of our neck of the woods. Comets, though rare because of their extremely elongated elliptical orbits, are still regular visitors, and asteroids are ubiquitous stragglers from the early moments of the creation of our solar system.
Oumuamua came from another star system.
That is a big deal because even if it came from our closest neighboring star, it would have taken it a couple of hundreds of thousands of years from there to get here (assuming it was traveling at the presumed limited speed of objects the size that it was, and as estimated based on its actual transit). Even light at 186,000 miles per second would take over four years to make the journey from Proxima Centauri - one of the triple-star system of Alpha Centauri, our closest stellar neighbor.
But that is not the biggest thing. Oumuamua brought to light once more - reinforcing the recurring theme of E.T. - the proverbial wishful thinking of not just science fiction writers but by over half of the population in the U.S. (and presumed for the whole world) who believe in UFO's and extraterrestrial life permeating the universe. But was Oumuamua no different from faces and familiar objects gleaned or perceived by people from cloud formations? Are people still being influenced by childhood predisposition to seeing faces or animal features in natural objects?
First, this: 52 per cent or so of people polled in the U.S. believe in the existence of beings other than those on earth and that there is a possibility that some had visited our world in the past, are visiting us today and may in fact even come in the future. Of the entire population, slightly over 80 per cent responded as believing in God and only about 3 per cent are self described atheists. We can assume the rest are agnostics. They just don't know. Obviously, there is an overlap in the statistics which may leave us to assume that some faithful believers, agnostics and atheists believe in UFO's or E.T. There are many who believe that "Project Blue Book" was a U.S. government (U.S. Air Force in particular) cover up on the existence of UFO's or even of actual physical evidence of extraterrestrial technology and, above all, the existence of physiological remains of E. T.
Well, it shall remain speculative at this point in time and conspiracy theories continue unabated. Oumuamua rekindled that. But what is really known?
That all we have is an artist rendering (above) speaks to the fact that astronomers really did not have a good look at it. It was too far. It snuck in and out and the actual image was a flickering light across the night sky. It was determined to be an extra terrestrial object because of its trajectory coming in and out and along almost a perpendicular path to the plane of the solar system. It did make a sling shot around the sun but did not behave like a comet. Those who make it their business to know celestial trajectories believe that Oumuamua made a one time pass.
Now, how did astronomers guess at the likely shape of Oumuamua? Based on the flickering intensity of the light it reflected towards earth-based telescopes, scientists figured that the object was either rotating or tumbling aimlessly but that it had a thin edge and the ratio of its length to its width was about 10 to 1. It is a guess though an educated one. But there is a bit of science to it.
As of today, with increasing accuracy, astronomers have detected close to a thousand exoplanets - planets orbiting other stars. How they know that is with the use of very sensitive light detectors that are able to measure the dimming of starlight caused by a planet transiting in front of its star. It is akin to detecting a moth flying across a street lamp from some distance away and the detector is able to measure the temporary dimming of the light when it reaches the telescope. The process is complicated and the collection of data tedious but it has now come to a point where scientists are able to calculate how fast a planet is orbiting the star and how close but also its mass based on another detector that determines the wobble of the star. Suffice it to say, the science works with the same facility as extrapolating data collected on Mercury's transit across the sun.
So, Oumuamua was either a natural celestial visitor or a manufactured alien object or, dare I say, a spacecraft. Well, that stretch of the imagination might be going too far but because this is a musing with a primary task to tickle your imagination, let us then at least look into E.T. from a tangential perspective.
First, let me say this. I believe in the magnificence of creation, and the God who created all of what we can see around us and everything we can imagine. It is a limiting belief to believe that this earth and this earth alone harbors life, life as we know it or even life we have not even began to imagine. It is much too egocentric on our part to believe that the universe of two trillion galaxies is just for us alone. To say that, and to only believe that, is actually limiting the power of the Creator. To also believe that the creation of life is one instantaneous event and exclude the deliberate development of life over a prolonged period encompassing all life forms in diverging and diverse manifestations is also limiting the power of the Creator. You see, to believe in the Creator and to have absolute faith is to believe in God's infinite power to do anything and everything, far beyond what we can only imagine. Having said that, until we see incontrovertible evidence of alien life we cannot rush to believe in it either. That is because, and this might seem contradictory, it is God's choice alone to decide whether to create life on earth and on earth alone or in every location across the universe. But we don't know that. We are indeed limited by the uncertainty principle. So, we can either believe our little earth is the only place with life or life exists in prolific diversity everywhere else. Until we know for sure, uncertainty is the only certainty.
So, where does that leave us? We are very fortunate to be living at a time that is now. We are seeing and experiencing so many things today that a century ago, more so ten to a hundred centuries ago, would have been miraculously magical. The average high school senior today knows more than Isaac Newton ever could have known. But do not lose sight of the fact that the more we know seems to expand the breath and magnitude of what we still do not know. Below is a quote about Halley's comet.
"In 1066, the comet was seen in England and thought to be an omen: later that year Harold II of England died at the Battle of Hastings; it was a bad omen for Harold, but a good omen for the man who defeated him, William the Conqueror".
We know, of course, of many more instances of good or bad omens from the night sky, as interpreted contemporaneously by those witnessing the events then that we know today were mere coincidences with no real causal effects beyond the natural. Today is no different. Oumuamua is treated by some as a harbinger of future potential alien visitation. It was on a spying mission. Or, it may already have left behind in its trail something that could conceivably affect life here.
This is where we need to take a pause. This is where we put the brakes on a runaway imagination. This is also where we reinforce our ability to be awed by the vastness of the universe and how infinitely small our role is in the greater scheme of things. But this is also where we take stock of the reality that even for the huge expanse of our solar system ours is a mere speck of dust lost in the swirl of the Milky Way. If we treat all inhabitants of our little world as fellow passengers on a life raft that is speeding across the cosmos to destinations unknown, we may think differently. Indeed, we ought to because the journey is fraught with uncertainty. What we know for certain is of little consequence to what is infinitely unknown.
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