Monthly Meeting February – ‘Oumuamua: Our first interstellar visitor

This month we will be screening a Gresham College video lecture presented by AAS Honorary Member Professor Chris Lintott.

In 2017, the Solar System was visited by an object named ‘Oumuamua, which came from another star system. The unusual properties of this first interstellar visitor led some to suggest it may be an alien spacecraft – but the truth is that its oddness is already teaching us lessons about how solar systems form. This lecture also considers the prospects of discovering more unusual objects in the Solar System and what we might do about asteroids that threaten the Earth. This lecture was recorded by Professor Chris Lintott on 24th January 2024 at Barnard’s Inn Hall, London. Chris is Gresham Professor of Astronomy. He is also a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford and a Research Fellow at New College. The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/o…

The video lecture will be followed by supper.