Technosignature Research Portal

`Oumuamua, the first detected interstellar visitor to the solar system, exhibits non-gravitational acceleration in its trajectory. Ruling out other means of propulsion, such as the evaporation of material via a cometary tail, it has been argued that radiation pressure is responsible for this acceleration. From this, the mass of the object must be approximately 40 tonnes, and given its dimensions, `Oumuamua must have a thickness of ~1 mm if of a similar rock/iron composition as the Earth. This raises the much publicised possibility that `Oumuamua is artificial in origin, sent intentionally across interstellar space by an alien civilisation, This conclusion, however, relies upon the common misapprehension that light (solar) sails can accelerate to a considerable fraction of the speed of light, permitting rapid interstellar travel. We show that such speeds are unattainable for conceptual man-made sails and that, based upon its observed parameters, `Oumuamua would require half a billion years just to travel to our solar system from its closest likely system of origin. These cosmological time-scales make it very unlikely that this is a probe sent by an alien civilisation.