That interstellar asteroid probably isn't aliens, but the hunt continues
Well, it should come as no surprise, but the interstellar asteroid astronomers discovered in October doesn't appear to be a piece of alien technology.
According to initial observations made by a radio telescope on Wednesday, the asteroid, named ‘Oumuamua, doesn't appear to have any obvious "artificial signals" coming from it.
But the hunt isn't over yet.
Researchers still have to comb through a fair bit of the data gathered by the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia to see if there might be some sign of alien technology to be found. However, it's not exactly looking promising.
Scientists with the alien-hunting Breakthrough Listen project are still planning to listen in on the object three more times to see if there's anything they can pick up.
Even if ‘Oumuamua -- which is about 1,312 feet long -- wasn't sent to our solar system by aliens, listening in on it with radio telescopes could still give astronomers valuable information about a newfound object.
That data could help scientists learn more about what the asteroid is made of.
“It is great to see data pouring in from observations of this novel and interesting source,” Breakthrough Listen's Andrew Siemion, said in a statement. “Our team is excited to see what additional observations and analyses will reveal."
‘Oumuamua is the first interstellar asteroid seen and mapped by astronomers, but it isn't necessarily one of a kind.
NASA estimates that one interstellar asteroid like ‘Oumuamua per year crosses through our solar system after traveling millions of miles across the galaxy.
Scientists, for their part, haven't given much credence to the idea that ‘Oumuamua is some kind of spacecraft.
From the beginning, the researchers working at the Pan-STARRS observatory in Hawaii who found the object have said that all indications point to the fact that it's likely a natural object.
But still, the idea of some alien technology just dropping in to say hi to an alien solar system sparks the imagination.
Miriam Kramer worked as a staff writer for Space.com for about 2.5 years before joining Mashable to cover all things outer space. She took a ride in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight and watched rockets launch to space from places around the United States. Miriam received her Master's degree in science, health and environmental reporting from New York University in 2012, and she originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee. Follow Miriam on Twitter at @mirikramer.
