NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has given astronomers their best look yet at comet 2I/Borisov.
The snapshot, taken Oct. 12, is the sharpest view of our interstellar visitor.
But it still doesn’t provide much in the way of answers.
Comet 2I/Borisov is only the second known astral object to have passed through our Solar System. The first, ‘Oumuamua, was identified two years ago.
“Whereas ‘Oumuamua appeared to be a rock, Borisov is really active, more like a normal comet,” Hubble team leader David Jewitt, of the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a statement. “It’s a puzzle why these two are so different.”
Based on its fuzzy appearance, scientists believe the object has a central icy body a few kilometers in diameter that is melting into a cloud of dust and particles as it approaches the sun.
Little else is known about the intergalactic tourist.
Still, analysts have managed to glean “invaluable clues” about planetary building blocks presumably forged in an alien star system a long time ago and far away.
“Though another star system could be quite different from our own, the fact that the comet’s properties appear to be very similar to those of the Solar System’s building blocks if very remarkable,” Amaya Moro-Martin, of the Space Telescope Science Institute, said.
Hubble photographed 2I/Borisov at a distance of 260 million miles from Earth.
The comet is following a hyperbolic path around the Sun, expected to make its closest approach on Dec. 7. It is currently falling at an extraordinary speed of 110,000 miles per hour.
“It’s traveling so fast it almost doesn’t care that the Sun is there,” Jewitt said.
By mid-2020, Borisov will streak past Jupiter on its outbound journey, eventually leaving the Solar System forever.
Future Hubble observations of the comet are planned through January, with more under consideration.
“New comets are always unpredictable,” according to Max Mutchler, another member of the observing team. “Hubble is poised to monitor whatever happens next with its superior sensitivity and resolution.”
More on Geek.com:
- Scientists Find Tiny Fragment of Comet Inside a Meteorite
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