Interstellar Alloy Recovered From Pacific Floor?
JoeMerchant writes:
https://earthsky.org/space/interstellar-meteor-papua-new-guinea-2014-u-s-space-command/
In 2019, two researchers from Harvard University - Amir Siraj and Avi Loeb, both of whom had published on 'Oumuamua and Comet Borisov earlier - also wrote a study of this meteor, suggesting its interstellar origins. If true, then this meteor - which predates both 'Oumuamua and Comet Borisov by a few years - would be the first known interstellar object.
Deep-sea explorers found 50 spherules-molten droplets, about half a millimetre in diameter.
Loeb's team collected 35 milligrams of this promising material by dragging a large magnetic sled across the surface of the ocean. The astrophysicist believes that the spherules are most likely made from a steel-titanium alloy
"The spherules were found primarily along the most likely path of IM1 and not in control regions far from it," read his blog. "In the coming weeks, we will analyze their elemental and isotopic composition and report our data in a paper submitted to a peer-reviewed journal."
https://avi-loeb.medium.com/summary-of-the-successful-interstellar-expedition-61ff4467070d
These sub-millimeter-sized spheres, which appear under a microscope as beautiful metallic marbles, were concentrated along the expected path of IM1 - about 85 kilometers off the coast of Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.
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It's just un-spectacular enough to be believable.
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