We just had our first interstellar visitor...and it's weird.

Sometimes, the acceptance of a lack of knowledge is far more valuable than conjecture. That being said, let’s talk about what we do know, because regardless, it is very weird.

Here are some of the things I checked out while working on this:

Rob Reid has an amazing piece in Ars Technica and the companion podcast is really really gooood

PBS Spacetime on Oumuamua:

Bad Astronomy on Oumuamua

This is a little out-dated but gives a /great/ overview of how the object was discovered and what happened after that in the scientific community

SciAm’s Strange Facts

Propelling spaceships with light sails:

The Paper that was published arguing that a solar sail could explain the observations (if you want to look at a LOT OF MATH)

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[d]

"I don't trust myself because I want it to be true." I think that's a hugely important idea!

[elliottmcollins]

Thoughts from Very Distant Places. I'm into it.

[virrr]

this definitely didn't feel 10 minutes long

[arillusine]

This comment is three years into the future from when this video was made and I’m realizing that the telescope he’s talking about is the one we’ve all been so excited about recently. Hoping for some closure on this arc eventually!

[nikkigriffin]

"I wanna have an event like that. Where we all remember where we were when we heard the news, not the bad news, just the big news." That hit me differently this time around.
Up until recently, I didn't have any such stories. I'm too young to have "where I was when I heard 9/11" story. But I live in Nova Scotia, and now I have a "Where I was when I heard about The Shooting". The news of the Shooting completely eclipsed the C-19 news for at least a week. Over the course of the next week, the number of victims just kept rising. This was a tragedy on a scale heretofore unheard of in this country.
If the news is big enough to have an accompanying "where I was when I heard the news story", that is the sort of thing that shakes up culture. I'm not eager for an event like that right now.
Sorry, this was long, I guess I just needed to thought dump into the void of the internet.

[NateandNoahTryLife]

One side of my brain: wow what a well thought out scientific examination
The other side: SPACE

[EpicDayTimeActivity]

It tried using the Earth's WiFi and got a tik tok ad and noped the fucc out of here.

[jessicaonymous]

Most horrifying phrase to a scientist: "off by like... Orders of magnitude"

[magicdoggo]

It's alien's equivalent answer to Elon Musk sending his car randomly into space.

[RangerRuby]

I love it when the Vlogbrothers go over the time limit for educational purposes because it means something good will be explained in the video!

[darmous]

So we have narrowed it down to A) Something we have observed before (a comet) B) Something intelligently made (solar sail) or C) Something we haven't observed before (anything)

[brentc]

9:02 "That The Universe is Weird". Hmmm, what an interesting sentiment, if only there was a catchy song I could listen to that expounded on that idea more...

[the_great_thinker]

bill: hey, jeff, we found a life supporting planet.
jeff: how do we say hi?
bill: LETS THROW A ROCK AT IT.

[Naiadryade]

Great video! I love the information. I love the speculation. I love the self-analysis on how you shouldn't speculate (especially publicly) but enjoy doing so anyway.

[yourneighbour]

Far away somewhere, as oumuamua returns with blurred images of earth at night
Alien scientists : " *Interstellar life? What are you, stupid? Those light must be just some kind of natural occurrence!* "

[brittanywetherill]

Um... anyone else come to this a year and a half late and ask:"why wasn't this all over the news??? How did I miss this? Have there been more?!"

[nesquik]

It took one good look at earth, and dipped.

[-.._.-_...-_.._-..__..._.-.-.-]

All I heard was "Aliens confirmed and intergalactic wars confirmed." Thank you!

[superbubbleaquapower]

"Where were you when you heard about Omuamua?"
"Well, Ted, it was two months after it was spotted and I was catching up on vlogbrothers videos to pass the time while cutting my nails."
"Vlogbrothers? Who are the vlogbrothers?"
"You know, John and Hank Green?"
"Who the eff is Hank?"

[KruddMan]

I get this weird buzz of optimism when I see how poorly we can perceive objects in space even with the highest end telescopes. It means there's so much more potential to achieve. So much more understanding if only we could see a little clearer.