【1998 Archives】

In October998 Archives an oddly-shaped asteroid that came from interstellar space shot through our solar system.

On Wednesday, scientists will point a large radio telescope toward it as it continues to hurtle through space millions of miles away. Why? It's all in the name of searching for alien life.

Researchers working with the alien-hunting Breakthrough Listen project, backed by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, plan to use the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope to try to see if the asteroid, named ‘Oumuamua, is more than just a very cool space rock.

"‘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,” Breakthrough Listen’s Andrew Siemion said in a statement. “Whether this object turns out to be artificial or natural, it’s a great target for Listen.”

There's no actual evidence that ‘Oumuamua is anything but a naturally occurring asteroid speeding on its own course through the galaxy. Still, it's unlike anything we've ever seen before.

'Oumuamua is thought to be 1,312 feet long and tall enough to rival the Empire State Building if stood upright. It's the first interstellar visitor seen by scientists as it flew through the solar system. However, researchers don't believe it's the first to stop by: Astronomers estimate one interstellar asteroid passes through our part of the galaxy each year.

This Breakthrough Listen initiative could give scientists valuable information about the asteroid.

"Even if no signal or other evidence of extraterrestrial technology is heard, Listen observations will cover portions of the radio spectrum in which the object has not yet been observed, and could provide important information about the possibility of water/ice, or the chemistry of a coma (gaseous envelope), neither of which have yet been identified," Breakthrough Listen said in the statement.