New book suggests that Oumuamua was an alien probe

[Vasily]

Originally Posted by rstevens62

The one thing I wonder about this...why would they need to send such a probe in the first place? It didnt get very close either, not sure how much data it could have gathered.

Making the big assumption that it was an alien craft of some type (like a generational starship), it may have been using the sun to slingshot and pick up speed - something that's been done in the past to get probes to the outer solar system. In that case, the residents may not have even been aware that Earth was inhabited - or they didn't care. In fact, astronomers were surprised that the object (which they assumed was an asteroid) was accelerating when it left the solar system. They suggested that in spite of its appearance, it was actually an extrasolar comet venting material - which explains the acceleration. Of course, you'd also see acceleration if it were a spacecraft and turned on its drive as it left. Oumuamua was a very odd object. The explanations I've seen for its elongated shape are not in my opinion very convincing.

[ocpaul20]

I get the impression that most space objects are spheroid in shape, I guess thats because tthe one which form from small pieces tend to bunch into a round planet-like shape and pieces that break off something else, are either 'lumps' or else they get worn down by bits breaking off in space as it travels along and through cosmic radiation. A long and pointy shaped thingy would perhaps normally get broken in two smaller more lumpy pieces and so a pointy shaped thing is unusual and thats what everyone is saying.

It could have been going from star to star using each star as the slingshot to propel it to the next one looking for 'life'. I wonder if it was tracked out of the Solar System and which way it was going on the way out. Towards what star?

[RocketDawg]

Has everyone read "Rendevous with Rama" by Arthur C. Clarke? If not, it's an excellent science fiction novel about a interstellar craft making its way into the Solar system and eventually into Earth orbit. It was published almost 50 years ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendezvous_with_Rama

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by ocpaul20

I get the impression that most space objects are spheroid in shape, I guess thats because tthe one which form from small pieces tend to bunch into a round planet-like shape and pieces that break off something else, are either 'lumps' or else they get worn down by bits breaking off in space as it travels along and through cosmic radiation. A long and pointy shaped thingy would perhaps normally get broken in two smaller more lumpy pieces and so a pointy shaped thing is unusual and thats what everyone is saying.

It could have been going from star to star using each star as the slingshot to propel it to the next one looking for 'life'. I wonder if it was tracked out of the Solar System and which way it was going on the way out. Towards what star?

The larger objects in space are spherical, or roughly spherical. I think it's because a spinning spherical object is quite stable. Pretty sure Ceres is the smallest spherical object in the Solar system.

[Vasily]

Originally Posted by ocpaul20

It could have been going from star to star using each star as the slingshot to propel it to the next one looking for 'life'. I wonder if it was tracked out of the Solar System and which way it was going on the way out. Towards what star?

Where it came from:

the team identified four possible stars that could have birthed 'Oumuamua: red dwarf HIP 3757, sunlike star HD 292249, and two other stars without such manageable nicknames as of yet.

(source)

It's been suggested it originated in a binary star system. It's headed toward the constellation Pegasus -- I can't find an article suggesting a star or stars that might be along its path.