Another great interstellar visitor, C / 2019 T4, comes to meet us

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The BBC recently reported a new interstellar visitor in our solar system. It is believed that it is a comet and was discovered by an amateur astronomer.

This makes this one the second uninvited guest of our solar system of space in recent years, since & # 39; Oumuamua in 2017.

RELATED: 7 MOST EXTRAORDINARY OUMUAMUA OTHER THAN ITS NAME

What do we know about our new interstellar guest?

At the present time, we know very little, but the Minor Planet Center (MPC) of Havard University has issued an official announcement on this subject.

He was first noticed by an amateur observer, Gennady Borisov, on August 30 this year.

He observed it from the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory at Bakhchysarai.

At the time it was pretty much three astronomical units or 450 million km from our sun

What has been determined so far is that the alien seems to have a hyperbolic orbit. In the opinion of the experts, this would indicate that its origin goes back to the outside of our solar system.

Perhaps, as some have claimed, this could come from a neighboring solar system.

Hyperbolic orbits are eccentric. This means that its shape (if viewed from the top) would be far from a perfect circle. According to estimates, its orbit would have an eccentricity of about 3.2. For reference, a perfect circle has an eccentricity of, unsurprisingly, 0, while the elliptical orbits of most planets, asteroids, and comets tend to be between 1 and 0.

It was initially given the designation gb00234 but has now received the name Comet C / 2019 Q4 (Borisov).

Is it another Oumuamua?

From what has been discovered so far, the answer to the question above is "no".

& # 39; Oumuamua Discovered on October 19, 2017, it was first classified as a comet, much like our new visitor.

It was because of its similar hyperbolic trajectory, but it lacked the telltale signs of a coma (or a fuzzy envelope around its nucleus).

Comet C / 2019 Q4 (Borisov) on the other hand, seems to be a comet.

He has a very clear coma and a well developed and characteristic comet tail.

Also, unlike & # 39; Oumuamua, C / 2019 T4It is much bigger – the first is estimated to be between 100 and 1000 meters long.

Current estimates indicate that there appears to be about 20 km wide. It is also very bright.

"In addition, "Oumuamua was also spotted after its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion), so that it was not visible long enough for astronomers to answer the many questions that they were asking themselves. C / 2019 Q4 (Borisov), meanwhile, is still approaching our solar system and should not reach perihelion before December 10, "the BBC reported.

His arrival is very exciting for astronomers

In the official announcement of the MPC, all astronomers were asked to keep a watchful eye. According to the MPC, "in the absence of discoloration or unexpected disintegration, [C/2019 Q4] should be observable for at least one year.

Its early observation should allow astronomers to make interesting observations on this subject.

astrophysicist Karl Battams, from the Washington DC Naval Research Laboratory, tweeted:

Another astrophysicist, Simon Porter, of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) of San Antonio, Texas, also added this on Twitter:

Exciting indeed.

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