Possible Evidence of an Extrasolar Object Striking the Earth in 2014:
A pair of researchers has found possible evidence of an extrasolar object striking the Earth back in 2014. In their paper uploaded to the arXiv preprint server, Amir Siraj and Abraham Loeb describe their study of data in the Center for Near-Earth Object studies database and what they found.
[...]Loeb and Siraj had reasoned that space objects traveling faster than normal might be evidence enough of an extrasolar visitor. That led to them to perform searches in the Center for Near-Earth Object studies database for objects that traveled faster than normal. They report that they found three hits, two of which they dismissed because of incomplete data. The third described a meteor that was believed to be slightly less than a meter wide that had been observed disintegrating in the atmosphere on January 8th, 2014, at a height of 18.7 kilometers near Papua New Guinea. Its speed had been measured by a government sensor at 216,000 km/h. By looking at its trajectory and tracing backward, the researchers report that it likely came from somewhere outside of our solar system. If the evidence pans out, the sighting would be the first known instance of an extrasolar object striking the Earth.
The researchers suggest that the object's high speed indicates that it was likely flung out of another star system. And if that were the case, it would have been reasonably close to its star at some point, deep in the interior of a planetary system—perhaps in its "Goldilocks zone," which means there was some chance it carried life. The researchers have written a paper describing their findings, which they have submitted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
For various definitions of 'striking' and 'Earth'.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @04:55PM (5 children)
We were living in a Science Fiction novel all along
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @05:33PM (4 children)
Going all Andromeda Strain [wikipedia.org], huh?
I'm picturing you as Charleton Heston when he realizes where he is [youtube.com].
Yes, this is a non-sequitur, but I'm free-associating here. Leave me alone!
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday April 17 2019, @08:30PM (3 children)
I'm re-watching The Expanse seasons 1-3 in anticipation of 4.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Wednesday April 17 2019, @09:45PM (2 children)
I plan to do so as well. Has Amazon announced release dates? Last I heard, the season was in the can, but Amazon hadn't announced availability. That was back in late January, early February.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday April 18 2019, @01:30PM (1 child)
That's what I heard. I've read that shooting is completed. Editing and post production take some time. Speculation was for maybe this fall.
Prior to the above, I've seen other sources say 2019 for sure.
Of course, none of the above actually means anything.
(when using telnet, put a security shroud over your monitor to prevent others seeing what you are typing)
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Thursday April 18 2019, @01:44PM
Yeah, I heard the same stuff. Quite possibly from the same articles on the 'net. :)
That's not enough. You also need to cover your face in case you're mouthing the words you're typing.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 17 2019, @05:33PM (3 children)
that we actually have an alternate dimension close to us, and the inhabitants launched a preemptive strike on our Earth.
(Score: 3, Funny) by YeaWhatevs on Wednesday April 17 2019, @05:40PM (2 children)
I thought it was the bugs sending out their spore to colonize our planet.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Nerdfest on Wednesday April 17 2019, @06:10PM (1 child)
No, it just took over our leaders. Seriously, how the fuck else do you explain all this.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday April 18 2019, @06:27AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @06:27PM (1 child)
Loeb was one for the headlines [soylentnews.org] not too long ago the last time we had an extra-solar visitor.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday April 17 2019, @07:49PM
Oumuamua accelerated when going away from the sun. Explanation, maybe it's a solar sail kind of thing. The thing described here, entered Earth's atmosphere. Could it have been a solar sail? Who knows, but it did burn good.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Funny) by Osamabobama on Wednesday April 17 2019, @06:38PM (8 children)
High speed space objects can be very destructive if they impact Earth. Does the paper reveal whether the impact caused any planet-wide extinctions? I mean, if that's what got the dinosaurs then we should look into whether humans were rendered extinct by this impact.
Maybe I'll have to actually read the article to find out...
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 3, Touché) by takyon on Wednesday April 17 2019, @07:40PM (7 children)
Humans were not made extinct by the 2014 impact, AFAIK.
If these extrasolar asteroids are orders of magnitude less common than regular ones, then it could be a long time before an extinction level event would be caused by one. They could also be influenced by the movement of stars, so maybe we'll see more of them when another star comes within 0.2 light years of the Sun.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Informative) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday April 17 2019, @09:03PM (3 children)
I was.
Um.
Well, I got better.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 17 2019, @10:23PM (2 children)
You mean scientists reanimated your brain hours after death? I've heard about that happening.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday April 17 2019, @11:55PM (1 child)
Well, "reanimated" really.
This brain's not that great. I might get myself another one.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 18 2019, @03:20AM
You know. If I had a million dollars, I'd buy a new heinie.
You know why? Cuz mine's got a crack in it!
Thank you. I'll be here all week!
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday April 17 2019, @10:21PM (2 children)
> Humans were not made extinct by the 2014 impact, AFAIK.
No, but it clearly caused the Rapture to happen (God is very serious about his backups).
Look around you. Prove me wrong.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday April 18 2019, @01:34PM (1 child)
The rapture has NOT happened.
I have still heard Michele Bachmann and Pat Robertson saying incredibly stupid inane things quite recently.
Robertson in particular was onto something about homosexuals being responsible for the Notre Dame fire somehow.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday April 22 2019, @07:19AM
I fail to see how the presence of those two is proof of the lack of Rapture.
Whatever Humanity in general seems to indicate, God has Standards.