The mysterious cigar-shaped object, dubbed “Oumuamua”, soared past Earth last month. It travelled unimaginable distances at almost 200,000mp and now a scientific body, led by Mr Hawking, is trying to find out if the object is an alien probe or a previously unseen natural phenomenon.
Breakthrough Listen, a £74 million search for intelligent alien life, is using the world’s largest manoeuvrable radio telescope at Green Bank in West Virginia to track the object. The experts are listening for electromagnetic signals which can’t be produced in nature. If found it would be the biggest sign that extraterrestrial intelligence could be involved.
Hawking and his colleagues at Breakthrough Listen said:
“Researchers working on long-distance space transportation have previously suggested that a cigar or needle shape is the most likely architecture for an interstellar spacecraft, since this would minimise friction and damage from interstellar gas and dust.”
Astronomers spotted the strange object – the size of New York’s Empire State Building – through the Pan-STARR telescope in Hawaii on October 19. It is spinning on its axis every seven hours and is expected to zoom past Jupiter next year before Pluto in the 2020s. But researchers want to examine the object this week before it flies out of reach of telescopes.
They will listen for 10 hours to radio frequencies from 8pm tonight. Scientists believe the space rock is made of alien metal and has been ravaged by cosmic rays over millions of years. Lead scientist Dr Andrew Siemion, director of the Berkeley Seti Research Centre in California, said:
“Oumuamua’s presence within our solar system affords Breakthrough Listen an opportunity to reach unprecedented sensitivities to possible artificial transmitters and demonstrate our ability to track nearby, fast-moving objects. Whether this object turns out to be artificial or natural, it’s a great target for Listen.”
The object is currently about two astronomical units (AU) from Earth, or twice the distance between the Earth and sun.
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