1I/2017 U1 ’Oumuamua · interstellar e = 1.2011 · the orbit never closes
v∞ = 26.3 km/s · perihelion 9 Sep 2017
brightness swings ×10 every ~7.3 h · tumbling
no coma, no dust · Spitzer saw nothing
extra push 4.92×10⁻⁶ m/s² · falls as 1/r² what pushed it is where the readings begin
Component
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The Evidence
fact ⇄ how we know · live
Hyperbolic orbit: e = 1.2011, v∞ = 26.3 km/s
Never bound to the Sun · JPL/MPC fit
MEASURED
Brightness swings ×10 every ~7.3 h, tumbling
Meech 2017 · Belton 2018 · the raw light curve
MEASURED
The shape: ~8:1 cigar, or 115×111×19 m pancake
Modelled from the curve · it was never resolved
MODELLED
Extra acceleration 4.92×10⁻⁶ m/s² · falls as 1/r²
Micheli 2018, Nature · no gravity-only fit works
MEASURED
No coma, no tail, no dust: Spitzer saw nothing
Whatever pushed it, nothing was seen doing it
MEASURED
The push is H₂ or N₂ ice outgassing, invisible
Seligman & Laughlin · Jackson & Desch · Bergner
READING
The push is sunlight on a mm-thin artificial sheet
Bialy & Loeb 2018 · Loeb 2021 · the loud reading
READING
Light curve · projected area of this model
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drag = orbit · scroll = zoom · click a label · the cyan path is the real fitted trajectory