>>13884857Was answering a question but ok. What do you think about this:
“The number density of interstellar objects is not nearly as high as Siraj and Loeb assert. They cite the paper by Do et al. (2018), who estimate from the PAN-STARRS survey results that the number density of objects like ‘Oumaumua is > 0.1 per AU^3. But the discovery paper by Meech et al. (2017) makes it clear from analyzing PAN-STARRS, Catalina, and other surveys that the number density is more like 0.003 per AU^3. That difference removes all the tension in the problem, and it is not at all implausible that exo-Plutos might supply enough N2 ice fragments.
“In fact, in Desch & Jackson (2021) we calculated the number of N2 ice fragments generated by our solar system in its early stages, and is exactly sufficient to supply 0.003 per AU^3 if most solar systems eject similar numbers. Notably, Siraj & Loeb did not find a single error in our analysis, instead producing a crude back-of-the-envelope calculation. Worth adding is that, regardless of probability, a fragment of N2 ice exactly conforms to every observable feature of ‘Oumuamua (e.g., the non-gravitational acceleration), and no other hypothesis does. To say the N2 ice fragment hypothesis is ‘off the table’ is premature, misinformed, and ignores that there’s nothing better on the table.”
