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Astronomers are in full frenzy to learn more about the latest visitor to our solar system, Comet C / 2019 Q4. Although this has not yet been officially confirmed, they are largely convinced that the object comes from outside our solar system.
"I will say that there is no debate at this stage," said Quanzhi Ye, astronomer at the University of Maryland. "The orbit is clearly interstellar."
Last week, on September 11, the Minor Planet Center, a division of the International Astronomical Union in charge of cataloging the orbits of minor planets, asteroids, and comets, issued a circular announcing the discovery and the first observations of the comet. Since then, astronomers around the world have turned their telescopes to collect as much information as possible about the interstellar visitor, who is only the second known, after the discovery of the Oumuamua asteroid in 2017 .
An unusual discovery
On August 30, Gennady Borisov, Ukrainian amateur astronomer, saw for the first time the fourth quarter of the 2019 series, dubbed Gb00234. And because of this proximity of the Sun in the sky, the object remains difficult to see, but astronomers have already clearly solved his tail, identifying it as a comet.
The first calculations confirm a hyperbolic orbit, which means that the object is not related to the solar system. These same observations suggest that excessive hyperbolic velocity – a measure of the speed at which the comet travels – is between 30 and 40 kilometers at the time, which is a strong sign of its interstellar nature.
"All observations are made near the Sun and in these cases, uncertainties [in the orbit calculations] can be a bit big, so we expect the object to be a little farther from the sun in the sky to confirm [the orbit]Said Davide Farnocchia, an astronomer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who helped analyze some of the comet's initial images. "It will probably take days, even weeks before we are totally confident."
Once the observations have definitely confirmed the hyperbolic orbit and the interstellar origin, the Minor Planet Center should publish an announcement. The comet is the 48th to be discovered and reported by the Minor Planet Center this year, but if it was confirmed, it would be the first interstellar comet ever discovered. The comet will probably be renamed with the prefix 2I / according to the standard nomenclature. Some astronomers have suggested that the comet be named 2I / Borisov after its discoverer. The official name of the first interstellar object, 1I /'Oumuamua or 11/2017 -17, comes from the Hawaiian word meaning scout and was chosen to portray the object in the form of a messenger sent from afar.
Interstellar information blitz
Meanwhile, astronomers are scrambling to prepare proposals for using large telescopes to observe the comet in more detail in the coming weeks, hoping to measure elements such as its composition, its size and its rotation. According to preliminary observations, astronomers suspect that the nucleus of the comet is between 1 km and 16 km in diameter, and it looks like other known comets.
"From the first results, it looks like comets in our solar system," said Mike Kelley, an astronomer at the University of Maryland, who is already analyzing the initial data. "It has a similar color, a very red color, which is already an interesting result."
The comet is slightly brighter than average, but it is not visible to the naked eye. However, around 18 yearsth magnitude, the comet is visible when it is imaged with a camera attached to a medium-sized telescope. Since it is much brighter than its interstellar predecessor, it will likely become a target of interest for amateur and professional astronomers.
"With the [telescopes] that advanced hobbyists tend to have, if they know where to look, you'll be able to imagine it with the right camera, "Ye said.
As the comet is still coming in, it will give astronomers and amateurs plenty of time to watch it more. 'Oumuamua was seen coming out of the solar system and, after a few weeks, was already too weak to be seen even by the Hubble Space Telescope. The new comet will reach the closest approach to the sun around December 7th and will probably remain visible for a whole year.
The new discovery will undoubtedly trigger a gold rush for interstellar object research. Astronomers already submit articles on the new comet to online magazines and pre-print sites.
"Hopefully, the observation of it and the previous interstellar object – Oumuamua, and others to come, will help us understand not only how our comets and asteroids compare to comets and asteroids of other solar systems, but also about their galaxy journey, "said Kelley.
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