Rendezvous with Rama

[Drago]

Lordy. It seems the tefalheads want to check its not an alien spacecraft...

https://www.theguardian.com/science...terstellar-body-for-signs-of-alien-technology

 

[Drago]

The technical side of it is indeed vanilla.

But the willing public admission they're checking for alien emissions is not.

They don't expect to find anything, but that fact that the object, its velocity and trajectory are all unusual enough to raise even a slight suspicion is newsworthy to those with a wider outlook than whittling about stuff on Facebook.

 

[FishFright]

As an interesting aside a dramatisation of Rendezvous With Rama is on 4 extra at the moment , part 1 of 2 is on iplayer radio

 

[FishFright]

SETI have been around for donkeys years, I remember as a kid looking around one of their trailers ram packed with computers, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. They'll look at tons of stuff for anomolies, this asteroid isn't unusual.

Back in the day I used to run the SETI screen saver and more recently a protein folding modelling saver. Time to revisit this i think.

 

[Drago]

SETI have been around for donkeys years, I remember as a kid looking around one of their trailers ram packed with computers, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. They'll look at tons of stuff for anomolies, this asteroid isn't unusual.

The asteroid is unusual in that astronomers know of no natural process that can create a 400 x 40 metre roughly cylindrical asteroid. Be it natural or alien (cue spooky music) its is the first time anything like it has even been seen, and at the current state of our knowledge is utterly inexplicable. Its very unusual, and very exciting.

 

[classic33]

The asteroid is unusual in that astronomers know of no natural process that can create a 400 x 40 metre roughly cylindrical asteroid. Be it natural or alien (cue spooky music) its is the first time anything like it has even been seen, and at the current state of our knowledge is utterly inexplicable. Its very unusual, and very exciting.

V'ger?

 

[Drago]

I don't think its alien either, but I did my undergrad in Planetary Studies and postgrad in celestial mechanics, so it overlaps nicely into my area of expertise. The tefalheads will be writing papers about this one for years to come.

 

[Spinney]

I don't think its alien either, but I did my undergrad in Planetary Studies and postgrad in celestial mechanics, so it overlaps nicely into my area of expertise. The tefalheads will be writing papers about this one for years to come.

Well, I never suspected you had such hidden depths!

 

[Bollo]

Well, I never suspected you had such hidden depths!

I think we normally only see the visible depths.

 

[classic33]

The asteroid is unusual in that astronomers know of no natural process that can create a 400 x 40 metre roughly cylindrical asteroid. Be it natural or alien (cue spooky music) its is the first time anything like it has even been seen, and at the current state of our knowledge is utterly inexplicable. Its very unusual, and very exciting.

We still have George & Gracie don't we?

 

[Davos87]

Hmm, that really is Quite Interesting.

Originally they though it came from Vega, but turns out Vega wasn’t there when this asteroid left 300,000 years ago.

Heading off towards Pegasus now.

The shape of it looks more likely to come from Viagra.

 

[classic33]

Hmm, that really is Quite Interesting.

Originally they though it came from Vega, but turns out Vega wasn’t there when this asteroid left 300,000 years ago.

Heading off towards Pegasus now.

V'ger from vega!

 

[Tin Pot]

As it hasn’t stopped I’m more thinking it is Gaijin of Manifold:Space.


The first we’ve detected of many objects passing through as we’re of no interest...so far...

 

[Tin Pot]

Now, apparently, it may hold water...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42397398

 

[Drago]

Now, apparently, it may hold water...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-42397398

Proof that it does not harbour intelligent life, else it would hold significant stocks of beer.