Does 'Oumuamua' originate from a foreign cosmic civilization?
The international project Breakthrough Initiatives, looking for intelligent living in space, will now listen to the mysterious interstellar object. It writes Breakthrough Initiative in a press release.
The cigar or needle-shaped object has awakened mysticism and mystery since it was discovered in October. At that time, it passed the earth tens of thousands of kilometers per hour on its way through the solar system.
The world's astronauts still have not reached agreement on what 'Oumuamua is, how it looks, or where it comes from.
A widespread suggestion, however, is that it is a so-called interstellar asteroid, that is, an asteroid from a foreign solar system.
Although it is probably a natural subject, several observers have, among other things, confirmed that it appears to be in one solid piece and that its cigar or needle-shaped 'design' is ideal for interstellar travels.
Now the project Breakthrough Listen will listen to 'Oumuamua with a big radio telescope, the Green Bank Telescope, hoping to capture radio signals from a foreign civilization.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, December 13, you plan to observe the subject for 10 hours on different radio waves.
"With our equipment at Green Bank, we can capture signals with forces similar to a mobile phone if they come from the object," says Yuri Milner, billionaire behind the program, to Scientific American, and continues:
"We do not want to be sensational in any way and we are very realistic about our chances of being artificially created, but because it is a unique situation, we think that humanity can sacrifice 10 hours of observation time with the best available equipment in the world to test the unlikely hypothesis. "