'Oumuamua: Our first interstellar visitor - Chris Lintott
Feb 5, 2024
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'Oumuamua: Our first interstellar visitor - Chris Lintott. Chris Lintott, Astrophysicist and presenter, discusses the unusual properties of 'Oumuamua, our first interstellar visitor, and how it is teaching us lessons about solar system formation. The lecture also explores the prospects of finding more unusual objects in the Solar System and the threat of asteroids to Earth.
'Oumuamua provides valuable insights into the formation of planets in our solar system.
Interstellar objects like 'Oumuamua and Borisov suggest the existence of billions of similar objects in the galaxy.
Discovering more interstellar objects can offer valuable information about the conditions for planet formation in the galaxy.
Deep dives
Science happens in unexpected ways
Scientific discoveries can occur through chaotic and unexpected means.
Astronomical objects can provide new insights
The interstellar object 'umumumua' offers new insights into our solar system and the formation of planets.
Objects from other solar systems exist
Interstellar objects like 'umumumua' and 'Borisov' are not uncommon and suggest there are billions of them in the galaxy.
Potential explanations for 'umumumua'
The elongated shape and acceleration of 'umumumua' can be explained by its icy nature and exposure to cosmic rays.
Implications for future discoveries
The search for interstellar objects continues, and discovering more of them could provide valuable information about the galaxy and the conditions for planet formation.
In 2017, the Solar System was visited by an object named 'Oumuamua, which came from another star. The unusual properties of this first interstellar visitor led some to suggest it may be an alien spacecraft - but the truth is that its oddness is already teaching us lessons about how solar systems form.
This lecture also considers the prospects of discovering more unusual objects in the Solar System, and what we might do about asteroids that threaten the Earth.
This lecture was recorded by Chris Lintott on 24th January 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London
The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/oumuamua
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