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First possible interstellar object detected in our solar system

nasa.gov

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Re: First possible interstellar object detected in our solar system

#71

Post by TeMPOraL »

chairmanwow wrote: post #59
jboggan wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm thinking more like The Expanse.

I'm so glad that The Expanse has brought great space opera to the masses. Scifi books are several orders of magnitude better than the majority of "Scifi" Hollywood movies. The struggle of a fledgling technological species against the plight of interstellar space is a majestic backdrop for many of the best novels I've ever read. Especially with Clark, Niven, Pournelle etc. that have done some excellent mathematical in…

TBH, the masses know The Expanse mostly from TV show. But the show indeed is good, and while it has some differences from the books, it mostly stays true to science, even in very minor VFX details.

This is an unpopular opinion, because I've seen here how people like to hate on Gravity and stuff, but I feel like we're seeing a new trend in sci-fi movies/shows - Gravity, Interstellar, The Martian and now The Expanse, despite their various levels of science/plot tradeoffs, all are much more faithful to physics than what came before (with a honourable exception of Space Odyssey), and they do a great job at showing you can have a great sci-fi appealing to general population that sticks to how real space travel works.

--

That saids, The Expanse novels are 11/10 Even Better Than On TV, and I highly recommend them. Can't wait for the next one coming out soon(ish).

Re: First possible interstellar object detected in our solar system

#72

Post by TeMPOraL »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #54
dfischer wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just finished the show (season 1 and 2) and it’s the best sci-fi I’ve seen. I find it more epic than BSG. I’m so happy I watched it. I am considering picking up the books now. The science is on point. Flip and burn baby!

I wish I had read the books before I watched the TV series. Doing it in the reverse order has made me fairly unmotivated to read, I'm a few chapters a in to the second book and not sure I'll continue. Having said that, I've been fairly unmotivated to read anything recently due to working long hours and recently having rescued a dog. Let Ne know how you go with it.

I started reading the books only after the first season, and I'm very happy that I've started with the show first - now I read all Avasarala's lines with Shohreh Aghdashloo's voice.

(In general, I find reading after watching a much more pleasant experience - if I read a book first, I form my own image of the characters, which then usually clashes with what's in the movie. If I do it the other way, I just cast the characters I saw in the movie into the book.)

That said, do continue reading - the novels only get better with time, and there's plenty of awesome waiting that the show is nowhere near reaching.

Re: First possible interstellar object detected in our solar system

#73

Post by TeMPOraL »

dfischer wrote: post #51
jboggan wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm thinking more like The Expanse.

I just finished the show (season 1 and 2) and it’s the best sci-fi I’ve seen. I find it more epic than BSG. I’m so happy I watched it. I am considering picking up the books now. The science is on point. Flip and burn baby!

F-in A! Do pick the books, they're even better!

Re: First possible interstellar object detected in our solar system

#74

Post by TeMPOraL »

Grangar wrote: post #66

Would it be possible at all to intercept it for analysis?

Probably not; we won't be able to scramble a mission fast enough.

That said, this was literally my first thought when I saw the headline on HN - that I can't wait until we have a space presence good enough that, the next time this happens, we'll be able to quickly send a probe to such an object.

Re: First possible interstellar object detected in our solar system

#75

Post by throwanem »

Grangar wrote: post #66

Would it be possible at all to intercept it for analysis?

It's moving far too fast in the worst possible direction, and it's already far too far away.

If we'd known it was coming, we could in principle have gotten something out to its point of closest Earth approach, but the object's velocity means even that would've been a flyby with no possibility of rendezvous outside possibly an impactor.

As the matter stands today, anything we'd send after it would have to overcome a velocity disadvantage of something like 40 kilometers per second - in other words, traversing the diameter of our planet three or four times every second - on a vector pointed near as nevermind to straight away from us. That's not something our propulsion technology is so far even close to being able to do.

Re: First possible interstellar object detected in our solar system

#76

Post by throwanem »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #74
Grangar wrote: post #66

Would it be possible at all to intercept it for analysis?

Probably not; we won't be able to scramble a mission fast enough. That said, this was literally my first thought when I saw the headline on HN - that I can't wait until we have a space presence good enough that, the next time this happens, we'll be able to quickly send a probe to such an object.

It's doing ~40km/s almost directly away from us. We could launch yesterday and still never catch up. Best we could have done would be a flyby as it passed beneath the ecliptic - not nothing, to be sure, but not nearly close enough for sample return, either.

Re: First possible interstellar object detected in our solar system

#77

Post by lorenzhs »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #71
chairmanwow wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm so glad that The Expanse has brought great space opera to the masses. Scifi books are several orders of magnitude better than the majority of "Scifi" Hollywood movies. The struggle of a fledgling technological species against the plight of interstellar space is a majestic backdrop for many of the best novels I've ever read. Especially with Clark, Niven, Pournelle etc. that have done some excellent mathematical in…

TBH, the masses know The Expanse mostly from TV show. But the show indeed is good, and while it has some differences from the books, it mostly stays true to science, even in very minor VFX details. This is an unpopular opinion, because I've seen here how people like to hate on Gravity and stuff, but I feel like we're seeing a new trend in sci-fi movies/shows - Gravity, Interstellar, The Martian and now The Expanse, d…

The series is mostly true to the physics (they speed up travel times a lot, but that's kinda required for a TV adaptation), with the notable exception of a certain manoeuvre in the 11th episode of the second season (which the writers have conceded to be preposterous).

Space ship design is the other thing that regularly annoys me, it's all metal and not at all foam-padded on the inside. They're designed to look cool and futuristic, not utilitarian. They're also much too spacious, which makes it easier to get nice shots, of course, but is also a little ridiculous.

That said, it's amazingly fun and I've watched it twice and read all of the books. I think we can all agree that if the two points above are what's wrong with the series, it's pretty damn good. Highly recommended!

Re: First possible interstellar object detected in our solar system

#78

Post by lorenzhs »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #72
TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish I had read the books before I watched the TV series. Doing it in the reverse order has made me fairly unmotivated to read, I'm a few chapters a in to the second book and not sure I'll continue. Having said that, I've been fairly unmotivated to read anything recently due to working long hours and recently having rescued a dog. Let Ne know how you go with it.

I started reading the books only after the first season, and I'm very happy that I've started with the show first - now I read all Avasarala's lines with Shohreh Aghdashloo's voice. (In general, I find reading after watching a much more pleasant experience - if I read a book first, I form my own image of the characters, which then usually clashes with what's in the movie. If I do it the other way, I just cast the cha…

I wish show-Avasarala was as abrasive and foul-mouthed as book-Avasarala. That would make it even more fun, but would probably make the show harder to show on TV ;)

Re: First possible interstellar object detected in our solar system

#79

Post by chmod775 »

Cyphase wrote: post #27
Yetanfou wrote: post #4

A probe sent out by some remote civilisation, it is on its way through our part of the Milky Way galaxy. It used Sol as a source of gravity to slingshot itself on its way in the direction of Pegasus. It also did some measurements while it was at it, even though this system is not its final destination. Yes, totally made up but in theory it would be possible.

> okket: A remote civilisation that has no problem waiting hundred thousand years or longer for a probe to reach its destiny. > pavlov: At 44 km/s, the object is travelling slightly faster than Pioneer 10. Seems too slow for an interstellar probe? > QAPereo: A probe should show signs of acceleration, not freefall... unless you anted the probe to be stealthy. That is a disturbing thought. Of course it has FTL, but the…

> I'm not sure how well we did.

Well it's already leaving again after it completed its maneuver around our sun, and we haven't even a proper telescope pointed at it yet...

Re: First possible interstellar object detected in our solar system

#80

Post by TeMPOraL »

lorenzhs wrote: post #78
TeMPOraL wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I started reading the books only after the first season, and I'm very happy that I've started with the show first - now I read all Avasarala's lines with Shohreh Aghdashloo's voice. (In general, I find reading after watching a much more pleasant experience - if I read a book first, I form my own image of the characters, which then usually clashes with what's in the movie. If I do it the other way, I just cast the cha…

I wish show-Avasarala was as abrasive and foul-mouthed as book-Avasarala. That would make it even more fun, but would probably make the show harder to show on TV ;)

I agree. Not everyone likes it, but I do appreciate the amount of f-bombs she drops in the book. AFAIK though, the issue was not only with family-friendliness of the show, but also with the actress not liking to swear.
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