Very soon scientists will find out whether there are really many aliens in the solar system.
Darryl Seligman from Cornell University in the US believes that scientists may soon find out whether there are really many interstellar objects in the solar system. New telescopes will provide information about what or who is visiting the Earth’s environment. The scientist writes this in his article for Space.
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How can I distinguish a spacecraft from a space rock? This problem turned out to be very difficult for astronomers. It is so complex that some scientists have suggested that the first recorded interstellar object in the solar system, ‘Oumuamua, may have been of artificial origin.
Important
Astronomers believed that any object that moved through space at its own speed and had no visible possibility of motion must be artificial. Scientists knew, or so they thought, how ‘Oumuamua would behave if it were an interstellar space rock, but this object behaved just the opposite in every respect.
As ‘Oumuamua hurtled across the solar system, astronomers had only a few weeks to observe the object using telescopes around the world in 2017. These observations showed that the object came from outside the solar system and had an extremely elongated shape. The comet had no tail, but it still moved under its own power.
Comets also move under their own power, but they have tails made of dust and ice, creating thrust like a launch vehicle. But ‘Oumuamua was different, and there were suggestions that it was an artificially created object.
Although this assumption has not been proven, a theory has emerged that ‘Oumuamua is a completely new type of space object called a dark comet. Since the discovery of the interstellar object, scientists have found 7 dark comets hiding among asteroids in the solar system. The objects got this name because they move like comets but do not have tails.
Although astronomers have long assumed the existence of interstellar objects, it is difficult to determine what an alien in the solar system actually is: an ordinary space rock or an alien spacecraft. Moreover, it is assumed that there may be many such guests in the close vicinity of the Earth.
However, this problem needs to be solved with new observations from the Webb Space Telescope and the Vera Rubin Observatory, which is being built in Chile. Thanks to these observatories, it will be possible to understand the nature of interstellar guests.
If the Webb telescope had been operational in 2017, scientists would have been able to obtain more detailed images of ‘Oumuamua. In this way, it will be possible to understand what moves the object in space. Now, if something similar is discovered in the Solar System, then a research program is already in place.
The Vera Rubin Observatory will help detect many more interstellar objects in the solar system and be able to determine which of them are dark comets. The observatory will be able to see even small and faint objects far from Earth.
It may turn out that the space near the Earth is full of interstellar objects, and they all still remain invisible to us. And most importantly, both observatories will make it possible to distinguish artificially created alien devices (if any) from a dark interstellar comet.
Focus I have already written that scientists explain why precious metal mining has not yet begun on an asteroid worth 10,000 quadrillion dollars.
Source: Focus
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