A mysterious cigar-shaped object that zipped through the solar system in 2017 could be explained through a “purely natural origin”, an international astronomers’ team said on Monday, challenging proposals by some astronomers that it may represent “alien technology”. The 14-member team from five countries reviewed available data from observations of the object named Oumuamua made between September and November 2017 and said there is “no compelling evidence to favour an alien explanation for Oumuamua”. The 14-member team from France, Germany, Poland, the UK and the US analysed existing data and argued that Oumuamua’s features and trajectory — although surprising — could still be explained through natural phenomena. They have published their analysis in the journal Nature Astronomy. Computer simulations show that small fragments of planetesimials could be thrown out in unstable star systems.

Source: The Telegraph July 02, 2019 00:11 UTC