Astronomers to Check Mysterious Interstellar Object for Signs of Technology - Sensationalist Headlines

[QUOTE=download;52968389]He has a point. It's the first interstellar object (to our knowledge) pass through our solar system and it [I]just[/I] happens to have a very, very peculiar shape.[/QUOTE] I mean, we don't really have much comparison to other interstellar objects considering its the first for us. On the topic of hidden ship, if they hide them self in some rock I'm sure they can also shield their radio waves. Although I think its just a rock and not some hidden aliens.

[QUOTE=Mitsuma;52968646]I mean, we don't really have much comparison to other interstellar objects considering its the first for us.[/QUOTE] True, but we do presume that interstellar objects will be on average a similar shape to stellar objects. We have no reason to think otherwise. We need more samples to be sure.

[QUOTE=slapdown3;52968459]Good lord, could you imagine an intelligent alien race sending us a care package? History to forever to remember the "turd shaped object" that changed everything forever.[/QUOTE] Even fucking aliens want to send us loot boxes

[QUOTE=Tetracycline;52968617]Pretty sure that an alien race would be way better at hiding their spaceship, and if they didn't want to hide it they'd just be upfront with us (or they're coming to kill us all).[/QUOTE] absolutely no assumptions can be made about potential alien races except that they probably have some understanding of physics

[t]https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/mt/2017/12/imageedit_2_4593196455/lead_960.jpg?1512996129[/t] I guess the collectors are coming to earth rather than the reapers. the real question is will we get a better ending

It's not entirely out of the question that it might have been an alien ship, because it did basically do a gravity assist around our sun. But it is already exiting our solar system. However, it passed by us around October.

[QUOTE=milktree;52968798][t]https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/mt/2017/12/imageedit_2_4593196455/lead_960.jpg?1512996129[/t] I guess the collectors are coming to earth rather than the reapers. the real question is will we get a better ending[/QUOTE] Everyone on earth becoming reaper juice is still a better ending than ME3

How shitty would it be to discover it is some sort of alien craft that has been adrift in space for thousands of years and filled with potentially valuable tech only for us to not be able to reach it due to its speed.

[QUOTE=GunFox;52968961]How shitty would it be to discover it is some sort of alien craft that has been adrift in space for thousands of years and filled with potentially valuable tech only for us to not be able to reach it due to its speed.[/QUOTE] Ehh, we might be able to reach it if we build a small ship, put it in orbit, attach a very large tank of hydrogen to it and power it with a NERVA engine. Let me do the math and get back to you. [editline]12th December 2017[/editline] Dry weight of 10t, wet weight of 150t, and 1000s specific impulse gives us 26.5km/s delta-v. It's doable with current technology and would be suitable for a probe. [editline]12th December 2017[/editline] Scratch that, its velocity at 1AU was 49 km/s. We would need that speed from Earth to match its speed. Might be possible with a flyby, maybe. [editline]12th December 2017[/editline] To get that speed we'd need 1600t of fuel for a 10t dry weight and an ISP of 1000s.

Call up elon muskie man and borrow his personal falcon super heavy rocket

[QUOTE=Birdman101;52969007]Call up elon muskie man and borrow his personal falcon super heavy rocket[/QUOTE] or the new tesla roadster that ought to be able to catch up

I think the bigger problem is how quickly we can get a craft together and organised, probes takes years or even decades of planning before launch, I'm not sure if any craft could be prepared in the weeks or even days it would have to be made or modified.

[QUOTE=Drury;52969020]or the new tesla roadster that ought to be able to catch up[/QUOTE] [video=youtube;t_KXgFpguE0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_KXgFpguE0[/video]

[QUOTE=GunFox;52968961]How shitty would it be to discover it is some sort of alien craft that has been adrift in space for thousands of years and filled with potentially valuable tech only for us to not be able to reach it due to its speed.[/QUOTE] As long as we know where it's going, our ancestors will be able to catch up to it... eventually. :v:

What do you think the aliens sex parts look like? Asking for science. Lonely, lonely science.

[QUOTE=GunFox;52968961]How shitty would it be to discover it is some sort of alien craft that has been adrift in space for thousands of years and filled with potentially valuable tech only for us to not be able to reach it due to its speed.[/QUOTE] That's actually very similllar to the plot of one of Lem's short stories. [sp]A space pilot flying with a crew comes across a dead ancient alien spaceship in an interstellar asteroid belt, but is unable to communicate or tell anyone about this because his space faring company are a bunch of frauds and he has no equipment to make photos or provide any evidence about this, and half of his crew is mentally insane so noone would take his claims seriously. In the end the spaceships leaves the galaxy without anyone knowing about it, and the pilot nearly goes insane over it and can't sleep for weeks afterwards knowing that humanity lost a chance to study intelligent alien life due to budgetary restraints and awful organization.[/sp]

Could be a colony ship constructed out of an asteroid? [URL="http://sidonia-no-kishi.wikia.com/wiki/Sidonia"][IMG]https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/sidonia-no-kishi/images/e/ec/Sidonia.png/revision/latest?cb=20151116003332[/IMG][/URL]

[QUOTE=WhyNott;52969363]That's actually very similllar to the plot of one of Lem's short stories. [/QUOTE] Wow. That sounds really good actually. I feel compelled to buy it now :v:

[QUOTE=Quark:;52969441]Wow. That sounds really good actually. I feel compelled to buy it now :v:[/QUOTE] I don't remember what it was called, but I'm sure someone in the thread will know. I think it's one of his more popular ones.

Always wondered why everybody thinks that a potential interstellar space ship would emit radio signals. If I was an advanced alien species who sent out either stealth probes or ships I probably wouldn't equip it with the most traceable signal currently known. Not only does it take literally forever for radio signals to travel across the vast reaches of space, but it completely undermines any intent to be recognized simply as an asteroid.

[QUOTE=DiBBs27;52969471]Always wondered why everybody thinks that a potential interstellar space ship would emit radio signals. If I was an advanced alien species who sent out either stealth probes or ships I probably wouldn't equip it with the most traceable signal currently known. Not only does it take literally forever for radio signals to travel across the vast reaches of space, but it completely undermines any intent to be recognized simply as an asteroid.[/QUOTE] We don't exactly have a whole lot of the necessary tech to do any in depth analysis into whether or not it even [i]is[/i] an interstellar craft. For now us puny primitives gotta do with what we have. Whether or not it works, at least we tried. When it comes to what would be humanities most greatest existential discovery of all time I'm personally not too picky about how we would acquire the data to conclusively say "here be aliens". It's the greatest mystery of all time, and I remain optimistic that our species would change for the better if we let go of the egoist narrative that we're alone and, because of that, "special".

[QUOTE=GunFox;52968961]How shitty would it be to discover it is some sort of alien craft that has been adrift in space for thousands of years and filled with potentially valuable tech only for us to not be able to reach it due to its speed.[/QUOTE] Who knows, might be for the better. Don't we put things on our military equipment and vehicles to keep track of them? I believe an Alien race would do that, unless you meant that they'd be long gone and the ship is just part of what was left of them. But the question still begs to be asked, what got rid of them, and is it following not to far behind the lost spacecraft. But it would suck still, especially if it was a means to defend ourselves, because an alien craft, especially if it had any weapons at all, means that there's war/fighting going on all around the universe. [editline]12th December 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=Da Big Man;52969505] It's the greatest mystery of all time, and I remain optimistic that our species would change for the better if we let go of the egoist narrative that we're alone and, because of that, "special".[/QUOTE] This. When I worked at McDonald, one of my managers heard I was atheist, started asking me questions...eventually asked me if I believed in Aliens, I said yes, and I asked her and she used the bible as a way to say Aliens aren't real. I mean, fine, worship any god you want, but the thought that we are the only ones out there, that's there nothing else is terrifying to me. I don't understand how people can look up at the vast endless universe and think we are the only ones. There's just to much for us to be the only ones.

[QUOTE=DiBBs27;52969471]Always wondered why everybody thinks that a potential interstellar space ship would emit radio signals. If I was an advanced alien species who sent out either stealth probes or ships I probably wouldn't equip it with the most traceable signal currently known. Not only does it take literally forever for radio signals to travel across the vast reaches of space, but it completely undermines any intent to be recognized simply as an asteroid.[/QUOTE] [URL="http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacewardetect.php"]but stealthy interstellar travel is either extremely hard or legitimately impossible anyway.[/URL] i guess they could be using some kind of anomalously efficient heat sink or something, but by my (uneducated and probably misread) calculations the sink would have to last over 34,000 years to travel between stars at the asteroid's 38.3 km/s.

Honestly my bet is its a sheared off part of a tectonic plate from another planet, flung into space by a massive impact. Still wicked cool tho.

[QUOTE=Whomobile;52968599]I know it's not likely but imagine how crazy it would be if this was real: [IMG]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Rama16wiki.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] The sad part is we are nowhere near developed enough to rondevouz with it. It would be forever infuriating to have an alien vessel sail through our solar system and we have no way of reaching it, plus conspiracy theorists would always argue it never happened to begin with, rather than face the reality that we are not alone or God's chosen ones

[QUOTE=Ignhelper;52968668]Even fucking aliens want to send us loot boxes[/QUOTE] I hope it doesn't have a disc of some exotic metal with some weird alien wang engraved into it. [QUOTE=101kl;52969426]Could be a colony ship constructed out of an asteroid? [URL="http://sidonia-no-kishi.wikia.com/wiki/Sidonia"][IMG]https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/sidonia-no-kishi/images/e/ec/Sidonia.png/revision/latest?cb=20151116003332[/IMG][/URL][/QUOTE] There's stories about that, but you wouldn't want to meet the crew. [img]https://i.imgur.com/5HIskIz.png[/img]

Imagine if they did pick something up "Oh my god.. we're getting a translation..!" [B]R [/B] R? I wonder what it mea- [B]U[/B] *shifts nervously* [B]N [/B]

Someone is already attempting a rendevous and trajectory alteration in KSP as we speak. The future of our species is in the hands of a Mexican space game about minion space travel.

[QUOTE=Kylel999;52970081]Imagine if they did pick something up "Oh my god.. we're getting a translation..!" [B]Y[/B] R? I wonder what it mea- [B]U[/B] *shifts nervously* [B]M[/B][/QUOTE]

I would also shift nervously if I read a Y as an R