Another Alien Visiter to Our Solar System...

[Serendipity]

Hm.... they've found a second one...

Has another interstellar visitor been found?

An amateur astronomer has discovered a comet that could have come from a distant star.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Brian G Turner]

It's exciting stuff - especially as they'll be able to analyze this one better this time around.

 

[Dave]

This sounds like by December this will be visible to the naked eye. Maybe very bright indeed as it is huge. Maybe even visible during the day?? That would really be something unusual.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Here's a computer simulation of it's expected path:

c2019q4

orbitsimulator.com

 

[Dave]

That's a great simulator. The problem with observing it in the northern hemisphere is that we only have a few weeks more to see it. Then it sits in the southern hemisphere in same place forever after. It also never gets nearer the Sun than the orbit of Mars, so I doubt it will ever get very bright at all.

 

[Brian G Turner]

More coverage here: Newly discovered comet is likely interstellar visitor

 

[Brian G Turner]

Latest update on Interstaller 2.0 - it's bigger and faster than 'Oumaumau:

Wait. *ANOTHER* interstellar object is passing through the solar system?

A second interstellar visitor has been spotted: A comet called C/2019 Q4, an dit is screaming through the solar system.

www.syfy.com

And now we have a clearer pic of it - though it's still getting closer:

Gemini observatory captures multicolor image of first-ever interstellar comet

The first-ever comet from beyond our Solar System has been successfully imaged by the Gemini Observatory in multiple colors. The image of the newly discovered object, denoted C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), was obtained on the night of 9-10 September using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph on the Gemini...

phys.org

 

[Lumens]

The Solar System is beginning to feel a little touristy, as of late.

 

[Parson]

This is so interesting. But a bit scary. I know how long the odds are, astronomical doesn't begin to cover it, but I can't help imagining what a rock that size traveling at that speed would do to the earth. I wonder if it would actually crack the earth in half?

 

[Dave]

I realise these are random events, but it seems likely that bodies of a considerable size have been passing by regularly, and that it is just better telescopes that have allowed us to observe them in recent years. It is scary what such a rock could do if it hit the Earth, but it is a really long way away, and that is the key. Even though the hazard is there, the risk of a body hitting us is low. I do agree that what is really unusual about this one is the velocity.

It could get from the Earth to the Moon in just over two hours, or cross the continental US in about two minutes.

It is also getting a slingshot boost from the Sun and so speeding up even more!