Have we really found the first samples from beyond the Solar System? The evidence is not convincing
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Wednesday, September 6, 2023
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He has even hypothesised that the spherules are actually debris from an alien spacecraft.
Key Points:
- He has even hypothesised that the spherules are actually debris from an alien spacecraft.
- I commented at the time that I’d need firm analytical evidence to accept such interpretations.
- Loeb has now provided a very detailed set of analytical data of 57 spherules in an article submitted to a journal.
- But it has not yet been subject to the peer review that academics require before they accept research as legitimate.
- Such particles are referred to as “cosmic spherules” and normally come from asteroids within our Solar System.
Other explanations
- This is unlikely – iron meteorites from within the Solar System are the most affected by melting and this would explain the results.
- Other possibilities that Loeb considers are supernovas (infinitely hot exploding stars) and cool, luminous stars (known as “asymptotic giant branch” stars, where cool is still incredibly hot).
- A supernova results from the catastrophic implosion of a stellar source, producing bursts of neutrons to form new elements.
- The isotopic composition of those elements has been measured in many grains found in meteorites.
- But they differ from the spherules described by Loeb because they are very small – only a few microns at most.