Astronomers are excited after discovering object speeding at 133,200 miles per hour (approximately 214,364 kilometers per hour).
Interstellar objects are considered comets, and astronomers from the European Space Agency officially appointed 31/Atlas (the last alert system for the impact of asteroids), CNN added that it is the third object beyond the solar system observed in our universe.
The first thing to note is that objects pose no threat to our planet, astronomers assured us. It is in orbit around 150 million miles (240 million kilometers) from our planet. The comet is currently approximately 416 million miles (670 million kilometers) away from the Sun and is planning to take the closest approach to the star around October 30th at a distance of 130 million miles (210 million kilometers). Report On interstellar objects.
It’s too fast to come from our solar system
“The comet travels to nearly 37 miles per second (60 kilometers per second) or 133,200 miles per hour (approximately 214,364 kilometers per hour).
The speed and orbit of comets through our solar system are two powerful indicators that it was born beyond our universe, said Genluca Masi, an Italian Bellatrix astronomer and astronomical physicist who is founder and head of science for the Virtual Mail Order Project.
Masi is watching comets and streams a live view of the objects on the virtual Telescope project website starting Thursday at 6pm.
“The sun-bound object – the inhabitants of our solar system – is heading down the path around its return to the same point,” Kareta wrote in an email. “The Earth’s orbit is largely circular, Pluto’s orbit is extended elliptical, and many comets are very, very very eccentric. The orbit is a very long, narrow ellipse. The path of this object through the solar system is very linear.”
Travelling for millions of years
Dr. Paul Chodas, director of NASA’s nearby Object Research Center at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, tracking the object’s trajectory also revealed the path to reaching the solar system.
“If you extrapolate the movement backwards within time, you can see that it originated from outside the solar system,” Chodas wrote in an email to CNN. “It must have come from another solar system. We probably travelled through interstellar space for millions of years before we encountered our solar system.”
Astronomers still don’t know exactly where the object came from, but Kareta said, “As we gain understanding of the object’s trajectory, we may be able to make good guesses in a few months.” Kareta added that further research could reveal whether it looks the same in other solar systems.
Why is it important to study them?
Studying interstellar objects is important for a wider understanding of planets beyond our solar system and how those planets form, Kareta said.
“They are comets and asteroids that formed around other stars. The components of the planets around distant stars were ejected into interstellar space. “We want to measure everything we can about these objects and compare them to local comets and asteroids.”
