An interstellar visitor

[Cody]

We've had an interstellar visitor - now outbound, never to return. I immediately thought of Rama.
Then I read of a void they've discovered in the Great Pyramid, and I thought 'that'll be the fuel tank'.

[Cody]

The first known asteroid to visit our Solar System from interstellar space has been given a name. The interstellar interloper will now be referred to as 'Oumuamua, which means "a messenger from afar arriving first" in Hawaiian.

[spud42]

good lord, was that even really needed? how much money was wasted on this? lol

[Disembodied]

Now, new data reveal the interstellar interloper to be a rocky, cigar-shaped object with a somewhat reddish hue. The asteroid, named ‘Oumuamua by its discoverers, is up to one-quarter mile (400 meters) long and highly-elongated—perhaps 10 times as long as it is wide. That aspect ratio is greater than that of any asteroid or comet observed in our solar system to date. While its elongated shape is quite surprising, and unlike asteroids seen in our solar system, it may provide new clues into how other solar systems formed.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/solar-syst ... scientists

Generation ship, anyone?

[spud42]

thats exactly what i was thinking.. accretion of dust over the millennia...

[hoqllnq]

... a rocky, cigar-shaped object with a somewhat reddish hue.

[Disembodied]

Admittedly it gets much less ship-like when you see from the NASA video that 'Oumuamua is tumbling end-over-end. But that might be a result of the bearings in its internal centrifuge freezing up, resulting in a transfer of angular momentum.

[spud42]

damn Newton and his conservation of momentum... lol

[Smivs]

Perhaps 'They' are mining it, so you start in the middle and dig 'down' towards each end.

[Malacandra]

Now, new data reveal the interstellar interloper to be a rocky, cigar-shaped object with a somewhat reddish hue. The asteroid, named ‘Oumuamua by its discoverers, is up to one-quarter mile (400 meters) long and highly-elongated—perhaps 10 times as long as it is wide. That aspect ratio is greater than that of any asteroid or comet observed in our solar system to date. While its elongated shape is quite surprising, and unlike asteroids seen in our solar system, it may provide new clues into how other solar systems formed.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/solar-syst ... scientists

Generation ship, anyone?

I got challenged to do NaNoWriMo this year. Go on, guess what's just turned up in my story?

[Disembodied]

There's some slightly hysterical stories at the moment in much of the media (I know: I'm as shocked as you are ). The least Invasion of the Saucer People report I've found so far is in the Grauniad:

Astronomers to check interstellar body for signs of alien technology.

While many astronomers believe the object is an interstellar asteroid, its elongated shape is unlike anything seen in the asteroid belt in our own solar system. Early observations of ‘Oumuamua show that it is about 400m long but only one tenth as wide. “It’s curious that the first object we see from outside the solar system looks like that,” said [professor of astronomy at Harvard University Avi] Loeb.

[Cody]

<chortles> I read that Grauniad article last night, and had to smile.
The Ramans do everything in threes. When's the next one due?

[pleiadian]

Now, new data reveal the interstellar interloper to be a rocky, cigar-shaped object with a somewhat reddish hue. The asteroid, named ‘Oumuamua by its discoverers, is up to one-quarter mile (400 meters) long and highly-elongated—perhaps 10 times as long as it is wide. That aspect ratio is greater than that of any asteroid or comet observed in our solar system to date. While its elongated shape is quite surprising, and unlike asteroids seen in our solar system, it may provide new clues into how other solar systems formed.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/solar-syst ... scientists

Generation ship, anyone?

At "just" 400m, this hardly fits the definition of a generation ship.

[Disembodied]

At "just" 400m, this hardly fits the definition of a generation ship.

True – although much could depend on the size of the builders …

[Alex]

As suggested, could be for a race of tiny weeny bods on holiday...
But.. The end over end rotation suggests they didn't come from just one planet.
Nearer the ends suggests some need more gravity.

Dropping less gravity into some posts, sometimes feels compulsory.