CNEOS 2014-01-08
{{short description|Purported interstellar meteor that hit Earth on 8 January 2014}}
{{For|other uses of "IM1"|IM1 (disambiguation){{!}}IM1}}
{{use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox event
|date = {{start date and age|df=January|2014|01|08}}
|time = 17:05:34 UT
|place = near Papua New Guinea
|coordinates = {{Coord|1.3|S|147.6|E}}
|map={{location map|Pacific Ocean|lat_deg=-1.3|lon_deg=147.6}}
}}CNEOS 2014-01-08, also known as Interstellar meteor 1 (IM1),{{cite news |last=Pultarova |first=Tereza |title=Confirmed! A 2014 meteor is Earth's 1st known interstellar visitor - Interstellar space rocks might be falling to Earth every 10 years. |url=https://www.space.com/2014-meteor-first-interstellar-visitor-oumuamua |date=3 November 2022 |work=Space.com |access-date=4 November 2022}}{{cite journal |last1=Siraj |first1=Amir |last2=Loeb |first2=Avi |title=Interstellar Meteors are Outliers in Material Strength |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |date=20 September 2022 |volume=941 |issue=2 |pages=L28 |doi=10.3847/2041-8213/aca8a0 |arxiv=2209.09905v1|bibcode=2022ApJ...941L..28S |s2cid=252407502 |doi-access=free}}{{cite news |last=Loeb |first=Avi |title=The discovery of a second interstellar meteor |url=https://thedebrief.org/the-discovery-of-a-second-interstellar-meteor/ |date=23 September 2022 |work=TheDebrief.org |access-date=24 September 2022}} was a {{convert|0.45|m|ft|abbr=on}} meteor that impacted Earth on 8 January 2014 near the northeast coast of Papua New Guinea. It was claimed to be an interstellar object in a 2019 preprint by astronomers Amir Siraj and Avi Loeb,{{cite arXiv|last1=Siraj|first1=Amir|last2=Loeb|first2=Abraham|date=2019-06-04|title=Discovery of a Meteor of Interstellar Origin|class=astro-ph.EP|eprint=1904.07224}} and this was published in 2022.{{cite journal|last1=Siraj|first1=Amir|last2=Loeb|first2=Abraham|date=2019-09-16|title=An Argument for a Kilometer-Scale Nucleus of C/2019 Q4|journal=Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society|volume=3|issue=9|page=132|doi=10.3847/2515-5172/ab44c5|arxiv=1909.07286|bibcode=2019RNAAS...3..132S|s2cid=202577998 |doi-access=free}}{{Cite tweet |number=1511856370756177921 |user=us_spacecom |title=I had the pleasure of signing a memo with @ussfspoc's Chief Scientist, Dr. Mozer, to confirm that a previously-detected interstellar object was indeed an interstellar object, a confirmation that assisted the broader astronomical community. |author=U.S. Space Command |author-link=United States Space Command |date=Apr 7, 2022 |access-date=2022-08-31 |language=en}} This was supported by the U.S. Space Command in 2022 based on the object's velocity relative to the Sun.{{cite news |author=United States Space Command |title=I had the pleasure of signing a memo with @ussfspoc's Chief Scientist, Dr. Mozer, to confirm that a previously-detected interstellar object was indeed an interstellar object, a confirmation that assisted the broader astronomical community. |url=https://twitter.com/US_SpaceCom/status/1511856370756177921 |date=6 April 2022 |work=Twitter |access-date=12 April 2022}}{{cite news |last=Ferreira |first=Becky |title=Secret Government Info Confirms First Known Interstellar Object on Earth, Scientists Say – A small meteor that hit Earth in 2014 was from another star system, and may have left interstellar debris on the seafloor.|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/secret-government-info-confirms-first-known-interstellar-object-on-earth-scientists-say/ |date=7 April 2022 |work=Vice News |access-date=9 April 2022}}{{cite news |last=Wenz |first=John |title="It Opens A New Frontier Where You're Using The Earth As A Fishing Net For These Objects." – Harvard Astronomer Believes An Interstellar Meteor (or Craft) Hit Earth In 2014 |url=https://www.inverse.com/science/interstellar-meteor-2014-discovery |date=11 April 2022 |work=Inverse |access-date=11 April 2022}}{{cite arXiv |last1=Siraj |first1=Amir |last2=Loeb |first2=Abraham |title=Discovery of a Meteor of Interstellar Origin |date=4 June 2019 |class=astro-ph.EP |eprint=1904.07224}}{{cite news |last1=Handal |first1=Josh |last2=Fox |first2=Karen |last3=Talbert |first3=Tricia |title=U.S. Space Force Releases Decades of Bolide Data to NASA for Planetary Defense Studies |url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/us-space-force-releases-decades-of-bolide-data-to-nasa-for-planetary-defense-studies |date=8 April 2022 |work=NASA |access-date=11 April 2022}}{{cite news |last=Siraj |first=Amir |title=Spy Satellites Confirmed Our Discovery of the First Meteor from beyond the Solar System - A high-speed fireball that struck Earth in 2014 looked to be interstellar in origin, but verifying this extraordinary claim required extraordinary cooperation from secretive defense programs |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/spy-satellites-confirmed-our-discovery-of-the-first-meteor-from-beyond-the-solar-system/ |date=12 April 2022 |work=Scientific American |access-date=14 April 2022}}{{cite news |last=Roulette |first=Joey |title=Military Memo Deepens Possible Interstellar Meteor Mystery – The U.S. Space Command seemed to confirm a claim that a meteor from outside the solar system had entered Earth's atmosphere, but other scientists and NASA are still not convinced. (+ Comment) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/15/science/interstellar-meteor-debate.html#permid=117852708 |date=15 April 2022 |work=The New York Times |access-date=15 April 2022}} NASA and other astronomers doubt this, and still other experts found Earth-related explanations for the purported meteorite impact instead.{{cite news |last=Richtel |first=Matt |title=Surprise: An 'Extraterrestrial' Gadget Was Something More Familiar - In 2014 a fireball from outer space was posited to be an alien artifact. A recent study suggests otherwise. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/science/meteor-avi-loeb.html |date=11 March 2024 |work=The New York Times |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240311121317/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/science/meteor-avi-loeb.html |archive-date=11 March 2024 |access-date=11 March 2024}}
Discovery and putative confirmation
According to the researchers, the meteor originated from an unbound hyperbolic orbit with a confidence of 99.999%. The interstellar candidate was found in data from the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.{{Cite web|last=Katz|first=Brigit|title=An Interstellar Meteor May Have Collided With Earth in 2014|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/interstellar-meteor-may-have-collided-earth-2014-180971981/|date=17 April 2019 |access-date=23 March 2021 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}} The estimated speed of the meteor, around {{convert|60|km/s|mi/s|abbr=on}}, was likely produced in the innermost cores{{clarify|date=January 2024}} of another stellar system.{{Cite web|last=Dorminey|first=Bruce|title=Interstellar Meteor Likely Struck Earth In 2014, Say Astronomers|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucedorminey/2019/04/17/interstellar-meteor-likely-struck-earth-in-2014-say-astronomers/|access-date=2021-03-23|website=Forbes|language=en}} A 2019 study by Jorge I. Zuluaga published as a research note by the American Astronomical Society concluded that even if the direction were completely unknown, the probability that CNEOS 2014-01-08 was hyperbolic would still be 48%.{{Cite journal|last=Zuluaga|first=Jorge I.|date=2019-05-03|title=Speed Thresholds for Hyperbolic Meteors: The Case of the 2014 January 8 CNEOS Meteor|journal=Research Notes of the AAS|language=en|volume=3|issue=5|pages=68|doi=10.3847/2515-5172/ab1de3|bibcode=2019RNAAS...3...68Z|s2cid=155478708|issn=2515-5172 |doi-access=free}}
Confirmation is stymied because information quantifying the accuracy of the U.S. government's data is not publicly available. In 2022, the United States Space Command divulged that data on the meteor{{'s}} velocity is "sufficiently accurate to indicate an interstellar trajectory."{{cite news |last1=Marples |first1=Megan |title=US military confirms an interstellar meteor collided with Earth |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/13/world/interstellar-meteor-discovery-scn/index.html |access-date=14 April 2022 |work=CNN |date=13 April 2022}}{{cite news |last=Diaz |first=Jaclyn |title=The first known interstellar meteor hit Earth in 2014, U.S. officials say |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/04/14/1092869771/interstellar-meteor-hit-earth-in-2014 |work=NPR |access-date=16 April 2022}}
Further related studies were reported on 1 September 2023.{{cite news |last=McRae |first=
Mike |title=Material Found in Ocean Is Not From This Solar System, Study Claims |url=https://www.sciencealert.com/material-found-in-ocean-is-not-from-this-solar-system-study-claims |date=1 September 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230901161613/https://www.sciencealert.com/material-found-in-ocean-is-not-from-this-solar-system-study-claims |archive-date=1 September 2023 |access-date=1 September 2023}}{{cite arXiv |author=Loeb, Avi |display-authors=et al. |authorlink=Avi Loeb |title=Discovery of Spherules of Likely Extrasolar Composition in the Pacific Ocean Site of the CNEOS 2014-01-08 (IM1) Bolide |date=29 August 2023 |class=astro-ph.EP |eprint=2308.15623}}
Search for fragments
File:Location of CNEOS 2014-01-08 for the first Galileo Project ocean deep-water expedition.png intends to recover fragments of CNEOS 2014-01-08 from the seafloor off the coast of Papua New Guinea{{cite journal |last1=Loeb |first1=Abraham |title=Overview of the Galileo Project |journal=Journal of Astronomical Instrumentation |year=2023 |volume=12 |issue=1 |doi=10.1142/S2251171723400032 |arxiv=2209.02479 |bibcode=2023JAI....1240003L |s2cid=252089170}}]]
Amir Siraj, one of the authors who reported the finding of the purported interstellar meteorite, noted, "We are currently investigating whether a mission to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Manus Island in the hopes of finding fragments of the 2014 meteor could be fruitful or even possible."{{cite news |last=McNamee |first=Kai |title=An astronomer thinks alien tech could be on the ocean floor. Not everyone agrees |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/08/31/1119941103/astronomer-searches-ocean-extraterrestrial-meteor-alien-life-avi-loeb |date=31 August 2022 |work=NPR |access-date=1 September 2022}} Later, in a preprint (as well as in interviews) they described the expedition plan by The Galileo Project to retrieve small fragments of the meteor which, according to Loeb, "appears to be rare both in composition and in speed" and is not ruled out to be "extraterrestrial equipment,"{{cite web |last1=Loeb |first1=Avi |author1-link=Avi Loeb |title=The First Interstellar Meteor Had a Larger Material Strength Than Iron Meteorites |url=https://avi-loeb.medium.com/the-first-interstellar-meteor-had-a-larger-material-strength-than-iron-meteorites-bd8680ffaeb2 |website=Medium |access-date=21 August 2022 |language=en |date=18 April 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Fuschetti |first1=Ray |last2=Johnson |first2=Malcolm |last3=Strader |first3=Aaron |title=Harvard Professor Believes Alien Tech Could Have Crashed Into Pacific Ocean — And He Wants to Find It |url=https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/harvard-professor-believes-alien-tech-could-have-crashed-into-the-pacific-ocean-and-he-wants-to-find-it/2805992/ |access-date=2 September 2022 |work=NBC Boston}} using a magnetic sled on the seafloor of the impact region deployed using a long line winch.{{cite news |last1=Carter |first1=Jamie |title=Astronomers plan to fish an interstellar meteorite out of the ocean using a massive magnet |url=https://www.livescience.com/interstellar-asteroid-fishing-expedition |access-date=21 August 2022 |work=livescience.com |date=9 August 2022 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=Astronomers: Let's Fish a Meteorite From the Ocean ... With a Mattress-Sized Magnet |url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/astronomers-let-fish-meteorite-ocean-215300450.html |access-date=2 September 2022 |work=www.yahoo.com}}{{cite news |last1=Johnston |first1=Scott Alan |title=An Interstellar Meteor Struck the Earth in 2014, and now Scientists Want to Search for it at the Bottom of the Ocean |url=https://www.universetoday.com/157009/an-interstellar-meteor-struck-the-earth-in-2014-and-now-scientists-want-to-search-for-it-at-the-bottom-of-the-ocean/ |access-date=2 September 2022 |work=Universe Today |date=4 August 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Carter |first1=Jamie |title=Astronomers plan to fish an interstellar meteorite out of the ocean using a massive magnet |url=https://www.space.com/interstellar-asteroid-fishing-expedition-meteorite |access-date=2 September 2022 |work=Space.com |date=10 August 2022 |language=en}}{{cite arXiv|last1=Siraj |first1=Amir |last2=Loeb |first2=Abraham |last3=Gallaudet |first3=Tim |title=An Ocean Expedition by the Galileo Project to Retrieve Fragments of the First Large Interstellar Meteor CNEOS 2014-01-08 |eprint=2208.00092 |date=5 August 2022|class=astro-ph.EP}} Siraj noted that "The alternative way to study an interstellar object at close range is by launching a space mission to a future object passing through the Earth's neighborhood" which is thought to be much more expensive than the project's planned budget of $1.6 million. In the study, the astronomers write:
Interestingly, CNEOS 2014-01-08, with a ram pressure of 194 MPa at peak brightness, has the highest material strength of all 273 bolides. The second highest tensile strength is smaller by more than a factor of 2, namely 81 MPa for the 2017-12-15 13:14:37 bolide. The third highest tensile strength, 75 MPa, belongs to the 2017-03-09 04:16:37 bolide, which we identified as a possible interstellar meteor candidate (Siraj & Loeb 2019c). Of course, this result does not imply that the first interstellar meteor was artificially made by a technological civilization and not natural in origin (Loeb 2021). Iron meteorites make about a twentieth of all space rocks arriving on Earth.In a September 2022 blog post Loeb announced The Galileo Project expedition to search for fragments has been fully funded.{{Cite web |last=Loeb |first=Avi |date=2022-09-16 |title=Message in an Interstellar Bottle |url=https://avi-loeb.medium.com/message-in-an-interstellar-bottle-c393ea526e9f |access-date=2022-09-17 |website=Medium |language=en}}
In November 2022, a paper was published, claiming the anomalous properties (including its high strength and strongly hyperbolic trajectory) of CNEOS-2014-01-08 are better described as measurement error rather than genuine parameters. If true, successful retrieval of any meteoroid fragments is highly unlikely.
In July 2023, Amir Siraj and Avi Loeb reported finding metallic fragments that they believed to be from IM1 whose isotopic ratios indicated it was older than the Solar System.{{cite web |last1=Siraj |first1=Amir |title=Have We Found Fragments of a Meteor from Another Star? |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/have-we-found-fragments-of-a-meteor-from-another-star/ |website=Scientific American |access-date=8 July 2023 |date=5 July 2023}}{{cite news |last=Loeb |first=Avi |authorlink=Avi Loeb |title=I'm a Harvard Astronomer. I Think We Found Interstellar Material |url=https://www.newsweek.com/harvard-astronomer-alien-discovery-interstellar-material-1811087 |date=5 July 2023 |work=Newsweek |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230707153643/https://www.newsweek.com/harvard-astronomer-alien-discovery-interstellar-material-1811087 |archive-date=7 July 2023 |access-date=7 July 2023}} Other astronomers doubt the meteor was interstellar,{{cite news |last=Miller |first=Katrina |title=Scientist's Deep Dive for Alien Life Leaves His Peers Dubious - Avi Loeb, a Harvard astrophysicist, says that material recovered from the seafloor could be from an extraterrestrial spacecraft. His peers are skeptical. + comment |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/24/science/avi-loeb-extraterrestrial-life.html |date=24 July 2023 |work=The New York Times |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724151239/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/24/science/avi-loeb-extraterrestrial-life.html#permid=126537672 |archive-date=24 July 2023 |access-date=24 July 2023}} and other experts criticized Siraj and Loeb's method of determining where the meteor might have landed on Earth, showing that seismic data they used was not a result of an impact, but of nearby truck traffic.
See also
References
{{Reflist|refs=
{{cite web |url=https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/fireballs/ |title=Fireball and Bolide Data |publisher=Center for Near-Earth Object Studies |access-date=9 March 2024}}
|last1=Brown |first1=Peter G.
|last2=Borovička |first2=Jiří
|date=August 2023
|title=On the Proposed Interstellar Origin of the USG 20140108 Fireball
|journal=The Astrophysical Journal
|volume=953
|issue=2
|page=167
|doi=10.3847/1538-4357/ace421
|arxiv=2306.14267 |doi-access=free
|bibcode=2023ApJ...953..167B
}}
{{cite journal |last1=Gallardo |first1=Patricio A. |date=October 2023 |title=Anthropogenic Coal Ash as a Contaminant in a Micro-meteoritic Underwater Search |journal=Research Notes of the AAS |volume=7 |issue=10 |pages=220 |doi=10.3847/2515-5172/ad03f9 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2023RNAAS...7..220G}}
}}
External links
- [https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/alien-technology-ocean/ Ask Ethan: Did we recover alien technology from the bottom of the ocean?] (14 July 2023)
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