Astronomers in Canada are questioning the evidence behind a sensational new paper by researchers at Harvard University that suggests a mysterious cigar-shaped object spotted last year may have been an alien probe sent intentionally to Earth.
, which was recently submitted to the Astrophysical Journal Letters by astronomers from the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, proposes the object known as 鈥淥umuamua鈥� 鈥� which means messenger from afar in Hawaiian 鈥� may be of artificial origin.
鈥淥umuamua may be a fully operational probe sent intentionally to Earth vicinity by an alien civilization,鈥� the paper鈥檚 authors wrote.
Despite the excitement surrounding the paper鈥檚 claims, Paul Delaney, a professor of astronomy and physics at Toronto鈥檚 York University, and Alan Jackson, an astrophysicist at the University of Toronto鈥檚 Centre for Planetary Sciences, have expressed doubt about its accuracy.
鈥淟et鈥檚 not get too carried away here,鈥� Delaney told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning on Wednesday. 鈥淭here is a suggestion by a couple of astronomers that this might be of an artificial origin. I think they鈥檙e reaching a little bit.鈥�
The Harvard researchers contend the elongated interstellar object 鈥� which is believed to be the first known visitor to have originated outside of our solar system 鈥� is not an asteroid or a comet because it鈥檚 lacking characteristics distinctive to those types of space rocks.
For example, Oumuamua is not bound by the gravitational pull of the sun, as are other objects in our solar system, and appears to accelerate in speed through another way.
鈥淚t generated what we call a non-gravitational velocity signature,鈥� Delaney explained. 鈥淭hat is to say, as it swung through the inner solar system and on its way out, it moved in a way that wasn鈥檛 just explainable by its gravitational signature from the sun.鈥�
Astronomers have suggested that the puzzling object鈥檚 incredible speed 鈥� NASA said it was recorded tumbling through the inner solar system up to 112,000 km/h 鈥� may be the result of 鈥渙utgassing,鈥� which is how comets travel through space.
鈥淭he object could have been outgassing like a comet. If you鈥檝e got a balloon and you open up the end of it, it sails off very, very quickly because of this pressure from the gas,鈥� Delaney said.
However, as the Harvard researchers note and Delaney acknowledged as well, astronomers have been unable to conclusively identify Oumuamua as a comet because it lacks a tail or 鈥渃oma鈥� around it.
The uncertainty has led to rampant speculation about what the object could be and where it came from, Delaney said.
When asked if there was a possibility Oumuamua is a light sail 鈥� a piece of technology used to propel spacecraft by harnessing solar energy from the sun 鈥� that was developed by an unknown intelligence, Delaney replied yes.
鈥淚s it a possibility? Yes. Is it a likely probability? No,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause to be like that, it would have to be incredibly wide and very, very thin. We have no evidence to suggest that was in fact what we were seeing.鈥�
Because astronomers were only able to study the object and record data for approximately six to eight weeks when it was first detected in the inner solar system in March 2017, Delaney said there are still a lot of unknowns.
鈥淲e picked this object up after it went through closest approach to the Earth and closest approach to the sun,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 look at it for really a long time. We鈥檝e haven鈥檛 got definitive imagery of it. It was too small.鈥�
The image accompanying research and articles about Oumuamua is only an artist鈥檚 rendition of what it might look like, Delaney explained.
The York University astronomer isn鈥檛 alone in his skepticism on the research paper.
When Jackson, the astrophysicist from the University of Toronto, was asked about it, he invoked the words of famed American astronomer Carl Sagan.
鈥淐arl Sagan once said, 鈥榚xtraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence鈥� and this paper is distinctly lacking in evidence, never mind extraordinary evidence,鈥� Jackson was quoted as saying.
In this case, Delaney said the Harvard researchers just don鈥檛 have enough 鈥渆xtraordinary evidence鈥� to support the astonishing claim that aliens may have sent a spacecraft to Earth.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not there. It鈥檚 not that extraordinary,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little bit of speculation.鈥�
