Scientists Discover That Life Can Form in the Vacuum of Outer Space

(ANTIMEDIA) — The origin of life on Earth is one of the great mysteries human civilization must unravel. It goes right to the heart of the most baffling cosmic conundrum — what is life, why does it form, and what is its role in a seemingly violent, random universe?

A new study by a team of scientists may render the mystery even more vexing, as recent tests have shown it is possible for the molecular ingredients for life to form in space. The experiment opens the door for theoretically considering that life on Earth originated within the vacuum of space itself. It also has exciting ramifications for how we look at asteroids and comets, including the ancient interstellar asteroid ‘Oumuamua, which was recently determined to have a carbon-rich coating.

Researchers from the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada, conducted the experiment using thin films of ice containing methane and/or oxygen that were subjected to low-energy electron (LEE) radiation in high-vacuum conditions. LEEs were used because they have been known to trigger chemical reactions.

Sure enough, the research team found direct and indirect evidence suggesting that life is able to form and flourish in the same conditions found in space. The new study, published in the Journal of Chemical Physics, found evidence for small organic molecules like acetic acid, formaldehyde, and methanol, which form the building blocks of life.

The finding is important because it goes a long way toward confirming that organic molecules don’t have to originate from another star system or planet but could actually form in space itself. This widens the scope of the panspermia theory, which holds that microbial life on Earth may have originated elsewhere in the galaxy — or another galaxy — and hitched a ride through deep space via meteorites or asteroids to arrive on our planet.

The incredibly bizarre interstellar asteroid named ‘Oumuamua, which was revealed to the public last month, can now be considered a potential incubator for life. According to researchers studying the object’s reflected light, ‘Oumuamua has a 16-inch layer of carbon-rich goo coating its exterior, which explains why the asteroid is not spewing water vapor and leaving a trail of detritus behind it.

News of ‘Oumuamua has conjured images from Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama, which is about an anomalous object entering the solar system. The object, in Clarke’s novel, is first mistaken for an asteroid and then revealed to be an enormous artificial craft. Several nations dispatch astronauts and discover that Rama was created by a technologically advanced alien race that terraformed the interior of the asteroid into an artificial world. The origin and purpose of Rama remain a mystery.

While ‘Oumuamua is far more likely to have an interior of rock, ice, and dust than an artificial environment, the University of Sherbrooke researchers’ latest discovery suggests it is possible the asteroid’s exterior contains microbial life. Currently, scientists are scurrying to gather as much observational data from ‘Oumuamua as they can before it leaves the solar system.

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Leading Astronomers: Oumuamua Is ‘Alien Probe With Broken Engines,’ Could Have Hostile Intentions

A leading astronomer studying the origins of the space object known as Oumuamua has come out declaring it’s an alien probe with broken engines.  Dr. Jason Wright claims that Oumuamua’s movement is that of a craft that has lost power to its engines.

Right now, leading scientists are studying the odd “cigar-shaped” object which originated outside of our solar system.  Teams lead by renowned physicist, Stephen Hawking, are attempting to discover whether or not Oumuamua is alien or natural. If a radio signal is detected later today, scientists will “proceed with caution.”

Professor Avi Loeb, Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University, sais: “My recommendation, as in any dialogue, is that we first listen and do our best to understand what we are hearing. Once we figure this out, we can decide how to respond,” he said.  “Overall, I am an optimist. I believe that a very intelligent civilization will be peaceful, and we could save ourselves millions or billions of years by learning from it. But there is also the possibility that such a civilization will have hostile intentions and risk our existence, so we should deliberate carefully in any future contact with them.”

According to the Daily Mail, Dr. Wright from Penn State University is already declaring it a spacecraft.  Oumuamua is about a quarter of a mile long, 260 feet wide, and currently traveling at 196,000 mph. Rather than moving through space like other natural space rocks, astronomers believe that it is “tumbling” through our solar system.

‘”Such derelict craft would, if they are not traveling so fast that they escape the Galaxy, eventually ‘thermalize’ with the stars and end up drifting around like any other interstellar comet or asteroid,” Dr. Wright wrote in his blog. “In fact, since they (presumably) no longer have altitude control, one would expect that they would eventually begin to tumble, and if they are very rigid that tumbling might distinguish them from ordinary interstellar asteroids… and in fact, just because their propulsion is broken doesn’t mean that their radio transmitters would be broken.”

Wright suggests that the object could be a “Von Neumann probe,”  a theoretical self-replicating spacecraft that visits star systems. “Such a discovery would imply that there are lots of these things in the solar system at any given moment (even if they are deliberately targeting the sun, they are hard to spot and we’ll miss most of them), and so lots of opportunities to study them,” Wright assessed.  Wright also previously suggested the mysterious dimming of star KIC 8462852  (also known as Tabby’s Star) could be caused by an alien megastructure called a Dyson Sphere (a hypothetical structure which encompasses a star and uses harnesses its energy.)

Wright’s assessment comments come ahead of a project later today in which scientists will use high-tech scanners to discover if Oumuamua was sent by an alien civilization.

Another oddity is that Oumuamua is flying very ‘cleanly’, without emitting the usual cloud of space dust that astronomers observe around asteroids. Scientists say this suggests that the object could be composed of metal, rather than rock.

Stephen Hawking Joins Effort To Confirm If Oumuamua Object Is Alien Probe

The first mysterious object to reach our solar system was originally thought to be a comet or an asteroid from within the system. But now, physicist Stephen Hawking is leading an investigation into whether or not this object is a spaceship from an alien civilization.

Soon after the celestial object reached our solar system, scientists discovered that it is neither a comet nor an asteroid as previously assumed. The object’s official name is A/2017 UI but has been dubbed “Oumuamua”, which loosely means “a messenger that reaches from the distant past” in Hawaiian. Scientists also discovered that the object had traveled unimaginable distances through interstellar space at almost 200,000 mph.

All these findings grabbed the attention of renowned physicist, Stephen Hawking. A scientific body led by Hawking is now trying to decipher whether the “cigar-shaped” object is an alien probe or a previously unseen natural phenomenon. Astrophysicists theorize there are between one and ten “visitors” per year in our solar system but they move so quickly that we have never seen one before

“Perhaps the aliens have a mothership that travels fast and releases baby spacecraft that freely fall into a planetary system on a reconnaissance mission,” said Avi Loeb, a professor of astrophysics at Harvard University. “If this object is natural in origin, there should be many more like it in the solar system… and even if most of them are natural, perhaps one of them will be found to be of artificial origin, some space device or junk from an alien civilization, he said. “The more I study this object, the more unusual it appears, making me wonder whether it might be an artificially made probe which was sent by an alien civilization.”

The £75 million program that searches for evidence of intelligent life beyond Earth called Breakthrough Listen is led by Hawking,and is attempting to detect any evidence of alien technology transmitting from the object. Andrew Siemion, research center director at the Search for Extraterrestrial Life (SETI)– which works for Breakthrough – said it would begin a ten-hour observation tomorrow for specific signs of alien technology.

It will search on the electromagnetic spectrum using the Green Bank telescope in West Virginia. “It’s like a radio station you tune into with your car stereo,” said Dr. Siemion. “Nature doesn’t broadcast on a very specific frequency, its smears it out across color and time. Technology behaves differently. It can compress electromagnetic energy and so we look for those specific signs and for repeating patterns which nature doesn’t tend to do. We look for structure.”

Researchers say a long cylindrical shape like Oumuamua’s would reduce damage from interstellar gas and dust. Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, a leader a Breakthrough Listen said: “Whether it’s artificial or not, we will definitely know more about this object.”

 

An Object That Just Passed Earth Was So Strange Scientists Are Testing It for Alien Life

(ANTIMEDIA) — Last month, Anti-Media reported on the discovery of a giant interstellar asteroid passing through our solar system. The asteroid, named ‘Oumuamua, was the first object from another star system to be detected by the human race and stunned scientists with its shape — it is ten times longer than it is wide — and its color, a dark red hue caused by millions of years of exposure to radiation. Now scientists say the object is so peculiar that they are going to study it for signs of advanced extraterrestrial life.

The Breakthrough Listen initiative will spend $100 million to test ‘Oumuamua for radio signals. Scientists say that though it is highly unlikely, the unusual characteristics of the asteroid fit the bill of a giant interstellar probe or spaceship. Astronomers will use the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia to scan four radio bands for ten hours.

Igniting the wonder of many in the field, Harvard’s astronomy department chair and an adviser to Breakthrough Listen, Avi Loeb, remarked:

“The more I study this object, the more unusual it appears, making me wonder whether it might be an artificially made probe which was sent by an alien civilization.”

The Breakthrough group says the shape of the asteroid is “the most likely architecture for an interstellar spacecraft since this would minimize friction and damage from interstellar gas and dust.” However, they believe a natural origin is more probable.

Loeb cautions that we should not get our hopes too elevated.

“Most likely it is of natural origin, but because it is so peculiar, we would like to check if it has any sign of artificial origin, such as radio emissions,” Loeb says. “If we do detect a signal that appears artificial in origin, we’ll know immediately.”

Although it’s highly unlikely (to say the least) that we’ll hear anything, we’d be crazy not to have a go. It’s not everyday that we get access to a visitor from interstellar space. https://t.co/WVOqXYN0yo

— Brian Cox (@ProfBrianCox) December 12, 2017

The effort could allow us to learn more about the asteroid, which could, in turn, allow us to learn more about other star systems. While little is known about its origins, we do know that it is possible ‘Oumuamua came from very far away in the galaxy.

NASA noted:

“Preliminary orbital calculations suggest that the object came from the approximate direction of the bright star Vega, in the northern constellation of Lyra. However, it took so long for the interstellar object to make the journey ― even at the speed of about 59,000 miles per hour (26.4 kilometers per second) ― that Vega was not near that position when the asteroid was there about 300,000 years ago.”

Additional observations allowed scientists to determine that the asteroid is rocky, metal-rich, and contains traces of organic molecules – tholins irradiated by UV radiation. ‘Oumuamua also has a very unusual orbit that will soon eject it from our solar system.

Another group has proposed that we actually intercept the asteroid in order to study it closeup. Project Lycra is a moonshot, so to speak, as the logistics of traveling the incredible speeds and distances necessary to catch up with the asteroid would be unlike anything humans have ever attempted. However, the Project Lycra team contends this may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And technologically, they say, it is possible:

“[A] mission to the object will stretch the boundary of what is technologically possible today. A mission using conventional chemical propulsion system would be feasible using a Jupiter flyby to gravity- assist into a close encounter with the Sun. Given the right materials, solar sail technology or laser sails could be used… Future work within Project Lyra will focus on analyzing the different mission concepts and technology options in more detail and to down select 2 – 3 promising concepts for further development.”

Meanwhile, the desires of scientists who want to probe the asteroid for signs of extraterrestrial radio signals are not as sensational as they may sound. The idea of traveling inside an asteroid is a familiar idea in science fiction, and real scientists have actually proposed it as an ideal form of high-speed space travel. A paper released in 2011 suggested that astronauts could ride an asteroid to Mars. Several American companies and initiatives, including one spearheaded by James Cameron, have outlined plans for mining asteroids for minerals and even turning them into makeshift spaceships.

Surely, advanced alien races, if they exist, could have similar ideas about traveling via planes, trains, and asteroids.

The interstellar visitor has stirred the passions and imaginations of the human race. Even if there is no alien life using the asteroid as a star engine, there is much to be learned from an asteroid hailing from a different star system a long time ago in a galaxy far away (or maybe even our own galaxy).

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For the First Time, Scientists Have Confirmed an Alien Object in Our Solar System

(ANTIMEDIA) — For the first time, humans have observed an object from another star system. Code-named ‘Oumuamua, the interstellar visitor is a cigar-shaped asteroid the size of a football field. It is traveling at a stunning 85,700 miles per hour — so fast that astronomers almost missed it. The asteroid may provide information about the formation of other planetary systems.

The object was discovered on October 19 by the Pan-STARRS1 telescope, which sits like a gargoyle atop a Hawaiian volcano. Initially, it was thought to be a local comet, but because of its irregular speed and orbit, ‘Oumuamua is unique among the 750,000 asteroids or comets known to humanity. Scientists believe it originated during the violent formation of another star system and was ejected at high speeds.

“For decades we’ve theorized that such interstellar objects are out there, and now — for the first time — we have direct evidence they exist,” states Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “This history-making discovery is opening a new window to study formation of solar systems beyond our own.”

A team of scientists led by Karen Meech (Institute for Astronomy, Hawaii USA) used special instruments, including ESO’s Very Large Telescope and the FORS instrument, to learn more. As described in a paper published Monday in Nature, ‘Oumuamua, or A/2017 UI, is a “triaxial ellipsoid” that varies dramatically in brightness and spins on its axis every 7.3 hours.

“This unusually large variation in brightness,” Meech explains, “means that the object is highly elongated: about ten times as long as it is wide, with a complex, convoluted shape. We also found that it has a dark red colour, similar to objects in the outer Solar System, and confirmed that it is completely inert, without the faintest hint of dust around it.”

Scientists believe the color is due to the amount of radiation the asteroid has been exposed to over the course of its long journey through the cosmos. The asteroid’s origin is another mystery.

While ‘Oumuamua came from the direction of Vega, a bright star in the Lyra constellation, the team believes that ‘Oumuamua could actually have traveled through the Milky Way for hundreds of millions of years. This would account for its incredible speed and color, as the highly metallic rock has been heavily irradiated. So when we look at this object, we’re looking at something very ancient and from very far away. Fittingly, its Hawaiian name means “a messenger that reaches out from the distant past.”

With new powerful telescopes on the way, astronomers are excited about future discoveries. But for now, we can revel in the reflected glow of our first interstellar visitor, even as it slowly fades away on its journey through the galaxy.

Meet ‘Oumuamua: a cigar-shaped asteroid the size of a football field.

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