Cigars in Space: Do Aliens Smoke Cigars?

This week, news has hit that a ‘cigar-shaped’ asteroid has entered our solar system. The object, named ‘Oumaumau’, is approximately twice as far away as the sun is from the Earth.

The asteroid was first spotted by astronomers back in October, and they reveal that they have never seen anything like it. It is speeding through our solar system so fast that it is expected to avoid the gravitational pull of the sun, allowing it to zoom on towards other star systems.

Breakthrough Listen, a global group of astronomers set on monitoring the universe for signs of alien life, has decided to monitor the interstellar object for a ten-hour period starting on Wednesday 13^th December at 8pm. They hope to detect signals which will indicate whether there is an alien presence associated with the object.

The reason for this interest is that Oumaumau, with what researchers have referred to as a ‘cigar-shape’, is a very unusual shape for an asteroid. While the object is hundreds of metres in length, it only has a width and height of around one-tenth of that size.

Excitement is also raised, as research reckons that a long cigar-shaped object would be the best and most practical design for an interstellar craft, due to the fact that it would reduce the amount of damage and friction gained from travelling through interstellar gas and dust. An alternate theory could be that aliens enjoy a fine stogie after a hard day flying around the galaxies, and so have modelled their spacecraft after the best quality cigars!

While a natural origin is more likely, the origin is still unknown. Scientists believe that the object has been travelling through space for millions of years before ending up somewhere near our sun. However, there is still the possibility it could be something more, and that’s where Breakthrough Listen come into play. They should have results on whether their telescope picks up any exciting transmissions in the next few days! If it turns out the just be of natural origins, the results of this investigation can still prove useful in the future exploration of space.

What do you think about this astronomically big news; are alien aficionados really out there? Let us know what you think about these potential extraterrestrial stogie smokers on social media!

Image Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser