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It's official. We have our second interstellar visitor – and named -.
The International Astronomical Union confirmed that the object officially known as C / 2019 Q4 (Borisov) came from another solar system, giving it the proper name of 21 / Borisov on Tuesday. .
"The orbit is now sufficiently known and its object is unequivocal of interstellar origin and has received its definitive designation as the second interstellar object, 2I," the IAU wrote in a statement. "In this case, IAU decided to follow the tradition of naming cometary objects according to their discoverers.The object was therefore named 2I / Borisov."
The very first comet beyond our solar system, as imagined by the Gemini Observatory. The image of the newly discovered object, named 2I / Borisov, was obtained on the night of 9 September using the Gemini multi-object spectrograph from the Gemini North telescope, located at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. (Credit: AIU)
A newly discovered interstellar visit could be intercepted, according to the study
21 / Borisov was discovered on 30 August by astronomer Gennady Borisov and, unlike his predecessor, Ouamuamua, will be observable for an extended period. It is probably a comet, given its short tail and "fuzzy" appearance, according to a description supported by Davide Farnocchia, a researcher at NASA's JPL.
"The current speed of the comet is high, about 93,000 mph [150,000 kph], which is well above the typical speeds of objects orbiting the Sun at this distance, "Farnocchia said in a statement posted on NASA's website on Sept. 12. The high speed not only indicates that the object is probably coming from outside our solar system, but also that it will leave and return to interstellar space. "
NASA JPL said earlier this month that 21 / Borisov is about 260 million kilometers from the Sun and will reach its nearest point, called perihelion, on December 8, 2019, when it will be less than 190 million kilometers from the Sun.
It is still unclear what Oumuamua really is, although several theories have emerged, including one from Harvard University researcher Avi Loeb that it could be a light-veil extraterrestrial.
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The discovery of 21 / Borisov raises new questions, said the IAU, including the reason why interstellar objects were not discovered before, their expected appearance speed in the internal solar system and their comparison with similar bodies in the solar system.
"Large telescopic surveys capable of regularly scanning large portions of the sky can help answer these and many other questions in the near future," wrote IAU on its website.
Researchers have recently suggested that 21 / Borisov could be intercepted with the help of existing technology and studied to determine several aspects, for example if it is a problem. a comet or an asteroid. Experts also noted that it could be investigated to see what material, if any, it has recovered from other solar systems.
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