Interstellar comet Borisov made a remarkably long and lonely journey, scientists say

A named comet 2I / Borisov became just the second interstellar object to be observed in our solar system (the First is a little more famous) during its stint in 2019. Now a new science is discovering that not only has it traveled long distances to reach us for many eons, but it has also taken a very isolated route.

New observations indicate Borisov is the first comet ever to be seen in truly new condition, leading astronomers to suspect that she has spent her life wandering deep space without ever approaching another star. By avoiding all that potential wind and solar radiation, Borisov can now provide a detailed snapshot across time and space of the distant cloud of gas and dust that formed over 4 billion years ago. years.

“2I / Borisov could represent the first truly pristine comet ever to be observed,” Stefano Bagnulo of the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium in Northern Ireland said in a statement.

Previously, Comet Hale-Bopp, which was widely observed in the 1990s, was considered the most pristine comet known. By studying the color and polarization of Borisov’s light, scientists determined that it appears to be even more pristine.

“The fact that the two comets are remarkably similar suggests that the environment in which 2I / Borisov was born is not that different in composition from the environment in the early solar system,” says Alberto Cellino, of the Astrophysical Observatory. from Turin in Italy.

Bagnulo and Cellino are co-authors of a study published Tuesday in Nature Communications that presents the results, as well as a companion article in Nature Astronomy.

The second article, led by Bin Yang of the European Southern Observatory in Chile, finds that Borisov’s tail or coma is mostly made up of tiny pebbles that differ from the less uniform clouds of debris found in comets in our solar system. .

“Imagine how lucky we were that a comet from a system several light years away simply made a trip to our doorstep by chance,” Yang says.

Bagnulo adds that he looks forward to future opportunities to closely study the next interstellar visitor.

“ESA (European Space Agency) plans to launch Comet Interceptor in 2029, which will have the ability to reach another visiting interstellar object, if an object on an appropriate trajectory is discovered.”

This mission could follow in the footsteps of ESA’s Rosetta mission that visited a comet, but Comet Interceptor aims to specifically target a virgin comet, just like Borisov, so it can look even further back in time in even greater detail.

To follow CNET’s 2021 Space Calendar to stay up to date with all the latest space news this year. You can even add it to your own Google Calendar.