The unusual behavior of Oumuamua, an interstellar object that a team led by a Harvard scientist thought was a spy ship sent by an alien civilization, may have been explained. According to Sci-News, new research led by astrophysicists Jennifer Bergner of the University of California at Berkeley and Darryl Seligman of Cornell University (USA) show that Oumuamua’s unusual acceleration is due to the process of releasing molecular hydrogen trapped inside the object.
Before that, Oumuamua, a space rock-like object discovered in 2017 but whose strange shape is said to resemble a cigar, added to the confusion when it displayed a strange orbit and suddenly increased speed in the “escape.” ” of solar energy. system.
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That, plus evidence that it is a newcomer from beyond the solar system, some prominent scientists argue that it could very well be something man-made, but not our earthlings, but a spy ship from an alien civilization in another system. stellar.
However, there are also many objections, saying that it is simply a lost asteroid.
In the new model by Drs Bergner and Seligman, they show that molecular hydrogen was formed through the vigorous reaction of water-rich ice as it approached the Sun.
This hydrogen was then released from the object, bending its path and accelerating the object as it left the solar system.
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This new evidence supports the hypothesis that Oumuamua is a natural object, originating from an icy planet or protoplanet, ejected during the formation of another star system.
“The main conclusion is that Oumuamua is well suited to being a standard interstellar comet,” Dr. Bergner said.
The new study has just been published in the scientific journal Nature.