Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
From the moment scientists named 'Oumuamua – which roughly translates to "scout" in Hawaiian – the first interstellar object to enter the solar system, Earth has buzzed with speculation about its nature and origin.
The cigar-shaped oddity from outer space was detected passing through the solar system 2017 and is, by now, on its way to the Pegasus constellation.
'Oumuamua moved in a comet-like way but lacked the tail of vapour that would normally be seen trailing a comet. It was also small compared to comets, which can be several kilometres wide.
Its elongated shape and other unusual characteristics led to theories it was everything from a "cosmic dust bunny," to an alien probe, to a chunk of a distant planet.
Scientists now say they know what it is, and the answer is less sensational than some previous theories have suggested.
According to a study published in the scientific journal Nature on Wednesday, 'Oumuamua is most likely an interstellar comet.
Until 'Oumuamua, scientists had only ever observed comets that originated within the solar system and had similar characteristics. NASA describes these comets as "frozen leftovers from the formation of the solar system composed of dust, rock, and ices."
As solar system comets orbit the sun, solar radiation causes them to heat up and spew jets of vapourized dust and gas that are visible from Earth: their signature tails.
The authors of this latest study, Jennifer Bergner and Darryl Seligman, have figured out that 'Oumuamua probably does have a cometary tail. It's just invisible. Because 'Oumuamua is so much smaller than the comets scientists typically observe, Bergner and Seligman wrote that it could have generated a hydrogen gas jet that was just too small and thin to be detectible to telescopes.
The way it moved through the solar system supports the idea, too.
According to NASA, cometary jets are powerful enough to give comets a speed boost at certain points in their orbit, independent of the sun's gravitational pull. 'Oumuamua accelerated as it passed through Earth's inner solar system in a manner similar to a comet, but the lack of a visible tail suggested it wasn't a comet, leaving scientists confused about the source of its acceleration.
If 'Oumuamua's tail was too small to be visible, but just strong enough to give it a boost, Bergner and Seligman said that would explain its comet-like, but confusing, characteristics.
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
After more than a century, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding as Scouting America, another major shakeup for an organization that once proudly resisted change.
The trial of a man who admits he killed four women in Winnipeg is set to begin Wednesday, and a law professor says lawyers for Jeremy Skibicki have multiple hurdles to clear for a defence of mental illness.
A first-of-its-kind Canadian research study is working towards a major medical breakthrough for a brain disorder, believed to be caused by repeated head injuries, that can only be detected after death.
In March, Indonesian officials and local fishermen rescued 75 people from the overturned hull of a boat off the coast of Indonesia. Until now, little was known about why the boat capsized.
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.