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There Should be About 7 Interstellar Objects Passing Through the Inner Solar System Every Year:
In October 19th, 2017, the first interstellar object ever detected flew past Earth on its way out of the Solar System. Less than two years later, a second object was detected, an easily-identified interstellar comet designated as 2I/Borisov. The appearance of these two objects verified earlier theoretical work that concluded that interstellar objects (ISOs) regularly enter our Solar System.
The question of how often this happens has been the subject of considerable research since then. According to new study led by researchers from the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is), roughly 7 ISOs enter our Solar System every year and follow predictable orbits while they are here. This research could allow us to send a spacecraft to rendezvous with one of these objects in the near future.
The research that describes these findings was conducted by multiple researchers from i4is, a non-profit organization dedicated to the realization of interstellar flight in the very near future. They were joined by researchers from the Florida Institute of Technology, Harvard's Initiative for Interstellar Studies (ITC), the University of Texas at Austin, the Technical University of Munich, and the Observatoire de Paris.
The study of 'Oumuamua in October of 2017 set off a revolution in astronomy and the study of celestial objects. Not only was this an object that had formed in another star system, but its arrival and detection implied a large population of such objects. The detection of 2I/Borisov in 2019 confirmed what many astronomers already suspected – that ISOs enter our Solar System on a pretty regular basis.
Very soon, we can expect an alien spaceship too.
Abstract and full article are available on the arXiv pre-print server.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday March 16 2021, @11:02AM (1 child)
The paper talks about "1I-type" interstellar objects, which I think just means "comparable in size to 'Oumuamua".
Capture all interstellar objects.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Tuesday March 16 2021, @01:24PM
I think they classify by velocity - the point being objects from more distant regions of the galaxy are characterised by greater velocity relative to the solar system's orbit around the galactic centre.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Thexalon on Tuesday March 16 2021, @02:55PM (2 children)
The Grobulan interstellar battle fleet arrived on Earth as planned, but due to a massive miscalculation of scale was swallowed by a poodle.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 16 2021, @04:09PM
Metric units tsk tsk tsk...
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Tuesday March 16 2021, @08:16PM
You might enjoy this episode of the Twilight Zone [wikipedia.org] if you haven't already seen it.
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