The discovery of an interstellar meteor falling to Earth in this manner would be stunning enough, but Loeb-the Frank B. In addition to the breakneck pace, these objects appear to have been more robust than other space rocks, according to measurements of the fireballs. Loeb and Siraj used the same method to subsequently identify what was likely a much larger interstellar meteor (IM2) that struck hundreds of miles off the coast of Portugal on March 9, 2017.īoth meteors were traveling at extreme speeds of more than 110,000 miles per hour when they slammed into the atmosphere, which is much faster than typical entities that are bound to the Sun. Years later, Loeb and his student, Amir Siraj, concluded that the meteor’s high velocity at impact suggested that it was interstellar in origin, a hypothesis that was ultimately supported by the United States Space Command (USSC) using classified sensor data. Though the Silver Star is equipped with instruments for preliminary sample analysis, the team intends to study their ocean haul with far more precise and sophisticated laboratory equipment over the coming months. Loeb and his crewmates on this voyage, which is known as the Galileo Project Expedition, cast off on Silver Star from the island town of Lorengau last week and plan to continue scouring the seabed for signs of IM1 until June 29. “Standing in front of the ocean and waiting for technosignatures from the sled, make this sound like a dramatic drum roll.” “There is a periodic humming noise from the ship Silver Star when we retrieve the sled,” he added. “It reflects a unique opportunity to learn about other technological civilizations in the cosmos by studying the Pacific Ocean.” “This has been the most thrilling experience in my scientific career,” Loeb told Motherboard in an email from the expedition vessel, called the Silver Star. However, Loeb is optimistic that the crew will identify pieces of Interstellar Meteor 1 (IM1), the mysterious half-ton object that struck Earth nearly a decade ago, which he thinks could be an artifact, or “technosignature,” from an alien civilization.
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