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Re:Breakthrough Listen Project to Observe Interstellar Objec... by sp332 on Monday December 11, 2017 @05:31PM (#15901230)
The only reason we suspect that it is cigar-shaped is because its brightness changes (by a factor of about 10) with a somewhat regular frequency. But this indicates that it is tumbling, which would probably not be great for a ship designed with a long shape to reduce interstellar friction. Another potential (but less plausible) explanation is that it is not elongated and tumbling, but just blinking at us somehow.
Re:Breakthrough Listen Project to Observe Interstellar Objec... by garmaine on Monday December 11, 2017 @11:22PM (#15902982)
Or that differing composition yields different albedo.
Re:Breakthrough Listen Project to Observe Interstellar Objec... by ASalazarMX on Monday December 11, 2017 @06:37PM (#15901811)
Come on, it's obvious it's shaped like a penguin. The change in albedo is caused by the rotation needed to maintain gravity for the small alien penguins within.
Re:Breakthrough Listen Project to Observe Interstellar Objec... by eps on Tuesday December 12, 2017 @04:15AM (#15904088)
What if it's a wreck though? :)
Re:Breakthrough Listen Project to Observe Interstellar Objec... by sp332 on Tuesday December 12, 2017 @10:31AM (#15906234)
Yeah - what if it has a distress beacon? Then we'd have to go!
Re:Breakthrough Listen Project to Observe Interstellar Objec... by gldalmaso on Tuesday December 12, 2017 @05:24AM (#15904393)
Maybe we are just ignorant of the good interstellar friction reducing technology.
Re:Breakthrough Listen Project to Observe Interstellar Objec... by darepublic on Tuesday December 12, 2017 @06:48AM (#15904844)
You're right tumbling could be just a technology... and even if we find out that it appears to be made out of rock and ice maybe we are just ignorant of interstellar materials technology!