Scientists confirm solar system's second interstellar visitor

(Image credit: Elen11/iStock)

published 24 September 2019

The solar system is getting friendlier by the year it seems.

Following observations by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Solar System Dynamics Group, scientists confirmed that a comet seen traveling across the sky last month, which was thought to have come from a different solar system, is indeed "unambiguously" of interstellar origin.

The visitor also has a new name, 2I/Borisov. It's actually coming closer to Earth, CNN reports, and once it makes its way to the inner part of the solar system, scientists will be able to get a better understanding of it. Don't expect 2I/Borisov to stay for long, though. "The comet's current velocity is high, about 93,000 mph, which is well above the typical velocities of objects orbiting the Sun at that distance," NASA's David Farnoccia said. "The high velocity indicates not only that the object likely originated outside our solar system but also that it will leave and head back to interstellar space."

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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