Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/10/27/scientists-discover-interste.html
…
3 Likes
15.8 miles per second.
You can get a space ticket for that.
10 Likes
Get ready for the next one. Ramans do everything in threes.
35 Likes
that looks like a pretty suspicious gravity assist for an earth fly-by, must be aliens.
11 Likes
36 Likes
Hey…finally my people are coming back for me. Thank Phleeb-nar. It feels like forever and a solar-scurleum ago that I pushed the “get me outta here” button.
10 Likes
Be sure it doesn’t hit Uranus on the way out.
9 Likes
Obligatory:
19 Likes
It’s a real pain trying to charge an electronic thumb with an alien USB-C connector.
11 Likes
Maybe? Seems a bit slow to be Aliens coming to visit us.
Since it’s unprecedented there’s probably no naming tradition yet. And since “we can say with confidence that this object is on its way out of the solar system and not coming back,” maybe best to name it after the sitting U.S. President?
15 Likes
gratuitous karma facts:
units ‘15.8 miles/second’ c
* 8.4817461e-05
or that’s about 0.008% light-speed (and much less than ludicrous speed (and not remotely plaid))
comet or asteroid:
Since the orbit is pretty well known, we’ll take this to mean they aren’t sure of the composition of A/2017U1: “Two factors differentiate a comet from an asteroid: orbit and chemical composition. Comets have eccentric orbits so their distance from the Sun varies considerably.” That is, whether it’s rocky/metally (asteroid) or fluffy/icy/hydrocarbonish (comet).
4 Likes
who said anything about visiting, they’re just going to incinerate the planet and be on their way.
I thought I might add NASA’s news to my RSS feeds.
All those junk sites but no RSS/Atom. It may be old, but it worked fine. You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!
Wait, podcasts! And hunting from there… AHA! Still, they could make it easier to find.
3 Likes
This is just a publicity stunt for the new Avengers Movie with the Infinity Stones.
1 Like
25.4km/sec, for everyone that isn’t still using gerbil-penis units, which likely includes the original astronomers.
8 Likes
For comparison of how fast that is:
Earth’s orbital speed around the Sun: 30 km/s.
International Space Station orbital speed around Earth: 7.6 km/s.
As of January 2015, Voyager 1 Velocity relative to leaving the Solar System: 17.027 km/s. That’s with dual gravity assists received from both Jupiter and Saturn.
5 Likes
You see? This, this is exactly why we need that hyperspace bypass.
17 Likes
