Comet That Gatecrashed Through Our Solar System is No Ordinary Interstellar Object. Here’s Why
Scientists have discovered that a comet called 2I/Borisov – only the second interstellar object ever detected passing through the solar system – is surprisingly different in its composition from comets hailing from our celestial neighbourhood. Gas coming off 2I/Borisov contained high amounts of carbon monoxide – for more than comets formed in our solar system – indicating the object had large concentrations of carbon monoxide ice, researchers said on Monday. The presence of so much carbon monoxide, the researchers said, suggests 2I/Borisov formed in a different manner than comets in our solar system – in a very cold outer region of its home star system or around a star cooler than the sun. Scientists initially concluded last year that 2I/Borisov was similar to comets from our solar system, but data from the Hubble Space Telescope and an observatory in Chile revealed its differences.
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