Oumuamua (Oh-moo-ah-moo-ah)
noun

- An unusual interstellar asteroid - from ‘Oumuamua’, a Hawaiian word meaning a messenger from afar, arriving first.

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ORIGIN

Back in October 2017, a postdoctoral researcher named Robert Weryk at the University of Hawaii noticed an unexpected object in the usual data stream from the Pan-STARRS astronomical survey of the sky.

The object appeared to be highly elongated, like a stick, with a long axis 10 times longer than its short axis — unprecedented for an asteroid. Thus a search began to collect and analyze as much data as possible before it left our solar system.

Researchers immediately realized its shape — which would minimize abrasions from interstellar gas and dust — would be ideal for an interstellar spacecraft. This hypothesis understandably sent shockwaves through the scientific community, sparking much controversy.

After heated debate, scientists concluded in July 2019, that Oumuamua was of natural origin, rather than artificial.  

Notwithstanding, Avi Loeb, who is the former chair of astronomy at Harvard University, remained certain that OUMUAMUA was something akin to a light sail — a form of interstellar propulsion — spacecraft created by an extraterrestrial civilization. So much so that he wrote a whole book about it:

“Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth,” is scheduled to be released on January 26, 2021 from Houghton Mifflin.

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Practice OWAD in an English conversation, say something like:

“Thanks to astronomy, OUMUAMUA has now become the second most well-known Hawaiian word in English, after Aloha.”

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VIELEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3

Paul Smith