Astronomers Have Now Photographed A Second Interstellar Comet (space.com) 22
"A new photo shows the solar system's second confirmed interstellar visitor in an impressive new light," writes Space.com.
elainerd (Slashdot reader #94,528) quotes their report: A team of astronomers from Yale University in Connecticut imaged Comet 2I/Borisov last Sunday (Nov. 24) using the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, revealing the object's tail to be nearly 100,000 miles (160,000 kilometers) long. That's about 14 times Earth's diameter, and more than 40% the distance from our planet to the moon. "It's humbling to realize how small Earth is next to this visitor from another solar system," Yale astronomy professor Pieter van Dokkum said in a statement. Borisov's tail dwarfs its body, of course; researchers think the comet's nucleus is just 1 mile (1.6 km) or so across.
The comet was discovered in late August by amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov. Analysis of the object's speed and trajectory revealed that it came into our solar system from afar, making it the second known interstellar interloper after the mysterious body 'Oumuamua, which was first spotted in October 2017. Astronomers didn't see 'Oumuamua until it had already zoomed past Earth on its way toward the outer solar system, limiting the opportunity for detailed study. But Comet Borisov is a more obliging target.
elainerd (Slashdot reader #94,528) quotes their report: A team of astronomers from Yale University in Connecticut imaged Comet 2I/Borisov last Sunday (Nov. 24) using the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, revealing the object's tail to be nearly 100,000 miles (160,000 kilometers) long. That's about 14 times Earth's diameter, and more than 40% the distance from our planet to the moon. "It's humbling to realize how small Earth is next to this visitor from another solar system," Yale astronomy professor Pieter van Dokkum said in a statement. Borisov's tail dwarfs its body, of course; researchers think the comet's nucleus is just 1 mile (1.6 km) or so across.
The comet was discovered in late August by amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov. Analysis of the object's speed and trajectory revealed that it came into our solar system from afar, making it the second known interstellar interloper after the mysterious body 'Oumuamua, which was first spotted in October 2017. Astronomers didn't see 'Oumuamua until it had already zoomed past Earth on its way toward the outer solar system, limiting the opportunity for detailed study. But Comet Borisov is a more obliging target.
Only one conclusion... (Score:4, Funny)
Since we didn't see any for thousands of years, and now we have seen two in two years, we must be under attack. That is the only logical conclusion. Time to notify the Space Force.
Thread (Score:2)
They say it's "evaporating" as it gets closer to Earth... but is it really? Or should we be preparing for Threadfall?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Love it.
Now all they need to do is get it to go Between.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
But the reality is likely the opposite - we have a lot more interstellar visitors than we actually discover.
The fact that we now have discovered two means that now all the amateur astronomers will have new objects to chase.
It may also mean that the solar system is starting to enter a part of space where there are more interstellar objects, so if we are unlucky we may see a dinosaur event asteroid heading for us.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, really?
Re:Only one conclusion... (Score:4, Informative)
>It may also mean that the solar system is starting to enter a part of space where there are more interstellar objects
There's not really any evidence to support that. Far more likely that we've only just started looking close enough to spot them. We're only just beginning to do serious comet/asteroid spotting, so these could easily be a typical frequency, or even less common than usual.
We're currently discovering thousands of new asteroids every year, which puts two interstellar asteroids in two years at a small fraction of a tenth of a percent of the total. And the number of asteroids spotted is increasing exponentially as better telescopes and analysis techniques are developed - virtually the entire catalog of identified asteroids were discovered in just the last twenty years, with the majority of those in the last 10 years (and the majority of those in the last 5, etc)
He was joking. (Score:1)
Don't take him seriously. :)
Re: (Score:2)
It's the Necromongers. The comet heralds their arrival.
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Not really under attack. The Ramans do everything in threes. Expect one more.
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Not really under attack. The Ramans do everything in threes. Expect one more.
Unfortunately we will not be able to send a craft to study it up close. Been decades since I read the story, but isn't this thing a lot bigger?
Order a blimp. (Score:1)
You should already have one lying around upstairs in the closet of your mom.
wat (Score:5, Insightful)
"It's humbling to realize how small Earth is next to this visitor from another solar system," Yale astronomy professor Pieter van Dokkum said in a statement. Borisov's tail dwarfs its body, of course; researchers think the comet's nucleus is just 1 mile (1.6 km) or so across.
So it's humbling to realize how small Earth is next to this thing which is much smaller than Earth? That's just stupid. The tail isn't part of the comet's body any more. It's stuff that it's losing, i.e. it's actually getting smaller.
It is humbling to realize how small Earth is compared to the cosmos, but how is this an example of that? It's just confusing to people. Save statements like this for when a rogue gas giant shows up.
Comet Borisov, Keck observatory? (Score:1)
Is this a meme?
This feels like it is LifeOfBoris Kerbal Space Program video [youtu.be] meme, gone way too far.)
A thing called space (Score:2)
Trump recently noted that
'we're going to be adding a thing called "space"'
so there you go... he has any potential invasion covered.
Is it really a comet (Score:2)
Is it really a moment, or is it a projectile?
2I/Borisov is interestingly boring (Score:2)
We'd always suspected that, but it's nice to have another bit of data to support the idea.