Currently zipping across the Solar System is an physical object that was n’t formed around the Sun . This unexpectedinterstellar visitoris the first identified comet that originates from another star , and stargazer at Yale have taken a new exciting close - up of it .
Its full title is 2I / Borisov ; 2I because it ’s the 2d interstellar aim discovered after‘Oumuamua in 2017 , and Borisov afterGennady Borisov , the Crimean uranologist who discovered it on August 30 of this year . The comet is currently bring closer to the Sun . It will reach its faithful point on December 8 , when it will be roughly 300 million km ( 190 million miles ) off .
Observations of thecometover the last few months have demonstrate that 2I / Borisov isremarkably similarto comets from our Solar System . It ’s also becoming more active . As it gets close and closer to the Sun , its tail has stretched substantially , now reach out intimately 160,000 kilometers ( 100,000 mi ) in length . That ’s 14 times the size of our major planet .
“ It ’s humbling to realize how pocket-size Earth is next to this visitant from another Solar System , ” Pieter van Dokkum , one of the scientist who capture the new range , said in astatement .
Comets are mostly composed of glass . As they get cheeseparing to the Sun ( or any ace for that topic ) , the ice sublimate ( goes from a solid to a gas ) and the comet modernize a tail . Observations have show that the nucleus of Borisov is about 1 km ( 0.6 miles ) , so it really puts into view just how far the tail assembly cover .
The days around the closest approaching to the Sun are idealistic for studying the comet due to its closeness and its activity . Van Dokkum and his colleagues Cheng - Han Hsieh , Shany Danieli , and Gregory Laughlin used the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii to take this image on November 24 , with more sure to arrive .
“ Astronomers are taking vantage of Borisov ’s sojourn , using telescopes such as Keck to hold selective information about the building blocks of planets in systems other than our own , ” Laughlin said .
Observations of the comet are unendingly taking place as the interstellar visitant hurtles through the Solar System at the incredible speed of 150,000 kilometers ( 93,000 miles ) per hour . The comet will stay visible for many months so astronomers will continue to track it well into 2020 .
