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A dark, reddish, highly-elongated rocky or high-metal-content object

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If I were an SF writer, this would be a thing that would generate story.

For the first time ever astronomers have studied an asteroid that has entered the Solar System from interstellar space. Observations from ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile and other observatories around the world show that this unique object was traveling through space for millions of years before its chance encounter with our star system. It appears to be a dark, reddish, highly-elongated rocky or high-metal-content object.
 

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Remember, the Ramans always did things in threes... :evil
 

Victor Douglas

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Not wanting to rain on your parade, but "rocky or high-metal-content object" describes nearly every asteroid, ever. A fair number of whom are elongated in shape. Reddish I dont know about. Sounds like oxidized iron, but I'm not an astronomer.

Put a gun to my head and force me to write a story based on this, and I would come up with the question "Where did this high iron object encounter enough water and heat to oxidize (i.e., rust)?" Water in the form of ice is quite common throughout the universe, but you have to melt it first in order to rust something. Or so I believe. Anyone know otherwise?

Drop a probe on it to confirm that it's been smelted, then trace it's trajectory back to the star system it seems to have originated from. Now Earth knows where an alien civilization, or at least an outpost of one, is very likely located. What follows is the saga of mankind trying to reach that place. With slower than light drives (to keep the sci-fi fairly hard) this is a generations long "future history" epic spanning generations and including dozens of primary characters (some of whom are descended from others). What they find when they get there... should be something suitably surprising to both the characters and the readers (i.e., not a cliche of the genre). Anyone got any ideas on that score?
 

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Not wanting to rain on your parade, but "rocky or high-metal-content object" describes nearly every asteroid, ever. A fair number of whom are elongated in shape. Reddish I dont know about. Sounds like oxidized iron, but I'm not an astronomer?

Most meteors have high levels of iron; the iron itself unique enough to be used to identify which fragments meteor fragments found on Earth were part of the same asteroid. (Yes, it's not that hard to find chunks of meteorites left on the ground; desserts work well for this).

But the telling thing about this particular asteroid that's interesting is this this is the first time that we've known one "has entered the Solar System from interstellar space" and have been able to study and track it.

And it's been in motion for millions of years.
 

Victor Douglas

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Well, sure, but is that a story? You could describe the journey of this piece of rock across the dark empty void, but it seems to lack drama...
 

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Well, sure, but is that a story? You could describe the journey of this piece of rock across the dark empty void, but it seems to lack drama...

Dude, I don't even write fiction and I can see the potential:

It's carrying ur-bacteria, primitive live from the creation of the universe; and it is not safe for terrestrial life.

It really is an artifact; it's essentially an alien Trojan horse, sent out when the first radio signals of the sun reached whereever.

It's a mobile tourist attraction, and brings with it a host of alien tourists who are, essentially, asteroid groupies.
 

Cyia

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Or, it's an instrument of terraformation, bringing with it the essentials to turn any habitable rock (i.e. Earth) into the perfect habitat for a race of aliens soon to follow. Unfortunately, the terraforming usually means the current inhabitants of ground zero go the way of the dinosaurs.

Or, it's the mega-compressed remains of a ship that passed through a black hole, hence the high iron content, and now there's an intergalactic race to see who can claim the remnants first. Unfortunately, the current occupants of ground zero will go the way of the dinosaurs in the conflict.

Or, it's a celestial croquet ball, and the goal is to knock our planet off its orbit on contact. Thus ensuring we go the way of the dinosaurs.

This is fun. And disturbing.
 

Victor Douglas

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Heh, well, I was trying to work its appearence in as the key element into the story, but if that's all by the wayside...

When you get close enough to the thing, it turns out to be partially transparent. It's really a projection from a parallel universe. A literal probe, in that it's meant to poke things. The things that get poked are... changed... in disturbing ways.
 

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Keep in mind that the illustration in the article is just that; an illustration by an artist. We know something about the size (including dimensions) and mass; not so much about the details.

Plus it's been travelling a looonnngggg time. Coulda looked very different "before."
 

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A story might revolve around an ancient cataclysm, which would seem necessary to produce something so elongated. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42053634

It is interesting that one of the first objects from interstellar space to enter our solar system is so extremely elongated and dense (rock and metal) rather than the more common icy material. Although iron meteorites are indeed the most common type found on Earth, that is because they are easier to find, not because they are in fact the most common type in space.
 

lilyWhite

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Well, when your species, your home planet, and eventually your entire galaxy is eradicated by an eldritch being that incubated in the heart of your planet, then you'd probably take extreme measures to eliminate these creatures before they fully matured and hatched elsewhere. A massive javelin made of a super-dense stone plummeting into the atmosphere will strike with enough force to pierce through the planet and into the shell of the monster's egg.

A pity that it shall be utterly cataclysmic for the inhabitants of the planet they call "Earth", but it is the price that must be paid to ensure the monster does not emerge to feast upon countless unsuspecting planets...
 
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