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arXiv · 2110.15213

On the Possibility of an Artificial Origin for `Oumuamua

Abraham Loeb
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Abstract

The first large interstellar object discovered near Earth, `Oumuamua, showed half a dozen anomalies relative to comets or asteroids in the Solar system. All natural-origin interpretations of the Oumuamua anomalies contemplated objects of a type never-seen-before, such as: a porous cloud of dust particles, a tidal disruption fragment or exotic icebergs made of pure hydrogen or pure nitrogen. Each of these natural-origin models has major quantitative shortcomings, and so the possibility of an artificial origin for `Oumuamua must be considered. The Galileo Project aims to collect new data that will identify the nature of `Oumuamua-like objects in the coming years.

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Abraham Loeb. 2021-10-20. On the Possibility of an Artificial Origin for `Oumuamua. https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2021.0193

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