Another Mysterious Object From Interstellar Space May Have Entered Our Solar System
Astronomers may have spotted the second object ever to visit our Solar System from another star system. The object may even fly near Mars later this year, though it’s still far away.
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Tau.Neutrino said:
Another Mysterious Object From Interstellar Space May Have Entered Our Solar SystemAstronomers may have spotted the second object ever to visit our Solar System from another star system. The object may even fly near Mars later this year, though it’s still far away.
more…
When ‘Oumuamua sped past Earth at a distance of just 15 million miles in October 2017, astronomers had no idea it was coming.
“We had to scramble for telescope time,” Hainaut said. “This time, we’re ready.”
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Good
that was really interesting, cheers neutrino
dv said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Another Mysterious Object From Interstellar Space May Have Entered Our Solar SystemAstronomers may have spotted the second object ever to visit our Solar System from another star system. The object may even fly near Mars later this year, though it’s still far away.
more…
When ‘Oumuamua sped past Earth at a distance of just 15 million miles in October 2017, astronomers had no idea it was coming.
“We had to scramble for telescope time,” Hainaut said. “This time, we’re ready.”
—-
Good
Another use for mollwollfumble’s proposed “blind spot telescope”, seeing objects like this close to the Sun.
What’s the orbital eccentricity? Zero is circular, one is parabolic. Slightly greater than one is not necessarily interstellar because orbits can change with ejection of cometary tails which act as a sort of rocket thrust.
mollwollfumble said:
dv said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Another Mysterious Object From Interstellar Space May Have Entered Our Solar SystemAstronomers may have spotted the second object ever to visit our Solar System from another star system. The object may even fly near Mars later this year, though it’s still far away.
more…
When ‘Oumuamua sped past Earth at a distance of just 15 million miles in October 2017, astronomers had no idea it was coming.
“We had to scramble for telescope time,” Hainaut said. “This time, we’re ready.”
—-
Good
Another use for mollwollfumble’s proposed “blind spot telescope”, seeing objects like this close to the Sun.
What’s the orbital eccentricity? Zero is circular, one is parabolic. Slightly greater than one is not necessarily interstellar because orbits can change with ejection of cometary tails which act as a sort of rocket thrust.
What the hell. Orbital eccentricity 3.08. That’s huge.
Oumuamua has an eccentricity of “only” 1.20. That’s now the second largest eccentricity ever recorded.
Comets with an eccentricity very close to 1.00 are common. Parabolic orbit.
Not much to update until we get some obs from Hubble. (The HST is the gift that keeps on giving.) At the moment 2I/Borisov is too close to the sun (from our position) for the HST to safely image it, but once it does, we’ll get a better idea of its nature.
The “2I” is an indication that this is the 2nd of this class of interstellar object, the other being 1I/ʻOumuamua, discovered a couple of years ago. Borisov is coming in a bit faster than ‘Oumuamua. It’s also significantly larger, perhaps around 2 km across. One other point of difference is that it is a comet, which is to say that it has developed a coma of dust and gas around it, meaning that it carried at least some volatile ices. From what can be told so far, it has a composition similar to those derived from our own Oort cloud.
dv said:
Not much to update until we get some obs from Hubble
Oh, and HST obs should start about a week from now
dv said:
Not much to update until we get some obs from Hubble. (The HST is the gift that keeps on giving.) At the moment 2I/Borisov is too close to the sun (from our position) for the HST to safely image it, but once it does, we’ll get a better idea of its nature.The “2I” is an indication that this is the 2nd of this class of interstellar object, the other being 1I/ʻOumuamua, discovered a couple of years ago. Borisov is coming in a bit faster than ‘Oumuamua. It’s also significantly larger, perhaps around 2 km across. One other point of difference is that it is a comet, which is to say that it has developed a coma of dust and gas around it, meaning that it carried at least some volatile ices. From what can be told so far, it has a composition similar to those derived from our own Oort cloud.
> Borisov is coming in a bit faster than ‘Oumuamua.
A lot faster. It would be interesting to see if its speed at infinity is of the same order of magnitude as local relative star motions, ie. 18 km/s.
A comet similar to the Oort cloud, eh. Good.
Mollwollfumble’s blind spot telescope could image it. That’s one of the main reasons for building it.
mollwollfumble said:
dv said:
Not much to update until we get some obs from Hubble. (The HST is the gift that keeps on giving.) At the moment 2I/Borisov is too close to the sun (from our position) for the HST to safely image it, but once it does, we’ll get a better idea of its nature.The “2I” is an indication that this is the 2nd of this class of interstellar object, the other being 1I/ʻOumuamua, discovered a couple of years ago. Borisov is coming in a bit faster than ‘Oumuamua. It’s also significantly larger, perhaps around 2 km across. One other point of difference is that it is a comet, which is to say that it has developed a coma of dust and gas around it, meaning that it carried at least some volatile ices. From what can be told so far, it has a composition similar to those derived from our own Oort cloud.
Keep those updates coming.> Borisov is coming in a bit faster than ‘Oumuamua.
A lot faster. It would be interesting to see if its speed at infinity is of the same order of magnitude as local relative star motions, ie. 18 km/s.
A comet similar to the Oort cloud, eh. Good.
Mollwollfumble’s blind spot telescope could image it. That’s one of the main reasons for building it.
Tell me about this telescope
dv said:
mollwollfumble said:
dv said:
Not much to update until we get some obs from Hubble. (The HST is the gift that keeps on giving.) At the moment 2I/Borisov is too close to the sun (from our position) for the HST to safely image it, but once it does, we’ll get a better idea of its nature.The “2I” is an indication that this is the 2nd of this class of interstellar object, the other being 1I/ʻOumuamua, discovered a couple of years ago. Borisov is coming in a bit faster than ‘Oumuamua. It’s also significantly larger, perhaps around 2 km across. One other point of difference is that it is a comet, which is to say that it has developed a coma of dust and gas around it, meaning that it carried at least some volatile ices. From what can be told so far, it has a composition similar to those derived from our own Oort cloud.
Keep those updates coming.> Borisov is coming in a bit faster than ‘Oumuamua.
A lot faster. It would be interesting to see if its speed at infinity is of the same order of magnitude as local relative star motions, ie. 18 km/s.
A comet similar to the Oort cloud, eh. Good.
Mollwollfumble’s blind spot telescope could image it. That’s one of the main reasons for building it.
Tell me about this telescope
Will do.
mollwollfumble said:
dv said:
mollwollfumble said:Keep those updates coming.
> Borisov is coming in a bit faster than ‘Oumuamua.
A lot faster. It would be interesting to see if its speed at infinity is of the same order of magnitude as local relative star motions, ie. 18 km/s.
A comet similar to the Oort cloud, eh. Good.
Mollwollfumble’s blind spot telescope could image it. That’s one of the main reasons for building it.
Tell me about this telescope
Will do.
Should note that Borisov (ie the dude who discovered this) was an amateur astronomer using a telescope he built himself.
dv said:
Should note that Borisov (ie the dude who discovered this) was an amateur astronomer using a telescope he built himself.
That activity is not at all recommended. Just ask Gallileo
Could you get return interstellar objects, hard to tell I imagine as it would be a long wait time
Cymek said:
Could you get return interstellar objects, hard to tell I imagine as it would be a long wait time
unlikely to get returns. very.
JudgeMental said:
Cymek said:
Could you get return interstellar objects, hard to tell I imagine as it would be a long wait time
unlikely to get returns. very.
Yes the circumstances setting up the visit in the first place would most likely be one off events.
I wonder how accurate an idea the departure solar system would have of an objects destination
We ain’t going to see these things again.
Bit more news:
ww.sci-news.com/astronomy/interstellar-comet-2i-borisov-double-red-dwarf-kruger-60-07641.html
A new study by astronomers from the A. Mickiewicz University and the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences suggests that the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov likely came from a binary star system called Kruger 60.
http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/cyanide-gas-interstellar-comet-2i-borisov-07637.html
Astronomers have for the first time detected cyanide (CN) gas — a common ingredient of solar system comets — in the coma of an interstellar comet.
dv said:
A new study by astronomers from the A. Mickiewicz University and the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences suggests that the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov likely came from a binary star system called Kruger 60.
I say we shoot back.
dv said:
We ain’t going to see these things again.
Yup. Hyperbolic orbit.
Interestingly, we aren’t ever going to see a significant fraction of solar system comets ever again either, the jet propulsion from the comet’s tail is just enough to throw it out of the solar system forever.
Wikipedia lists over 1000 comets that we’ll never see again in https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hyperbolic_comets
Admittedly, some of those we’ll never see again because they crashed into the Sun.
Dropbear said:
dv said:A new study by astronomers from the A. Mickiewicz University and the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences suggests that the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov likely came from a binary star system called Kruger 60.
I say we shoot back.
In Alexander Kluge’s film Willi Tobler und der Untergang der 6. Flotte (1972), a planet in the Kruger 60 system is the seat of the galaxy’s administration and the high command of the 6th fleet.
mollwollfumble said:
the jet propulsion from the comet’s tail is just enough to throw it out of the solar system forever.
What? That sounds bogus to me …. it should even out …
Dropbear said:
dv said:A new study by astronomers from the A. Mickiewicz University and the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences suggests that the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov likely came from a binary star system called Kruger 60.
I say we shoot back.
I know Kruger 60. It’s very close, Kruger 60 is a binary star system located 13.15 light-years from the Sun. These red dwarf stars orbit each other every 44.6 years.
If memory is correct, it was the second star system whose distance from Earth was found. It was also the first star found with a mean density greater than the density of water.
Being very close is a worry. What has happened to all the comets ejected from more distant stars? Did aliens get them or were they swallowed by dark matter?
mollwollfumble said:
Dropbear said:
dv said:A new study by astronomers from the A. Mickiewicz University and the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences suggests that the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov likely came from a binary star system called Kruger 60.
I say we shoot back.
I know Kruger 60. It’s very close, Kruger 60 is a binary star system located 13.15 light-years from the Sun. These red dwarf stars orbit each other every 44.6 years.
If memory is correct, it was the second star system whose distance from Earth was found. It was also the first star found with a mean density greater than the density of water.
Being very close is a worry. What has happened to all the comets ejected from more distant stars? Did aliens get them or were they swallowed by dark matter?
Good old Hanz Kruger and his detonators
Dropbear said:
mollwollfumble said:the jet propulsion from the comet’s tail is just enough to throw it out of the solar system forever.What? That sounds bogus to me …. it should even out …
Not when you factor in comet rotation.
mollwollfumble said:
Dropbear said:
mollwollfumble said:the jet propulsion from the comet’s tail is just enough to throw it out of the solar system forever.What? That sounds bogus to me …. it should even out …
Not when you factor in comet rotation.
the tail is always facing away from the sun so the interaction with the solar wind should be a net deceleration..
Can you have interstellar orbits of objects that reoccur
Dropbear said:
mollwollfumble said:
Dropbear said:What? That sounds bogus to me …. it should even out …
Not when you factor in comet rotation.
the tail is always facing away from the sun so the interaction with the solar wind should be a net deceleration..
The jets of material leaving the surface of the comet come out on the hot sunward side, causing a thrust away from the Sun. The direction of the tail is not related to the direction of thrust.
Cymek said:
Can you have interstellar orbits of objects that reoccur
Highly unlikely. wrong type of orbit and they don’t orbit our Sun. so to reoccur they would need to have to orbit around a distant star that put it back on a trajectory with our Sun. this would be mindboggling coincidence.
Cymek said:
Can you have interstellar orbits of objects that reoccur
In theory or in practice? The probability is vanishingly small.
mollwollfumble said:
Cymek said:
Can you have interstellar orbits of objects that reoccur
In theory or in practice? The probability is vanishingly small.
Either but I imagine the circumstances to set it up would be tiny
Still awaiting the telescope information, mwf.
:)