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In December 2019, NASA scientists observed 2I / Borisov in the wide variety of Atacama millimeter / submillimeter telescopes in Chile (ALMA) as it passed 190 million miles from Earth spilling gas and dust through from his cometary tail.
“This is the first time we have looked inside a comet from outside our solar system.” And it’s dramatically different from most other comets we’ve seen before, “said Martin Cordiner, an astrochemist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland and author of one of the studies on 2I / Borisov, both published in the journal Astronomy of nature.
Another study published Monday found that the amount of carbon monoxide in 2I / Borisov is nine to 26 times greater than the average comet in our solar system, in addition to confirming the detection of hydrogen cyanide in amounts similar to comets. originate on the solar planet. system.
Stefanie Milam, study co-author and planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said, “[2I/Borisov] it must have been formed from material very rich in [carbon monoxide] ice, which is only present at the lowest temperatures found in space, below -420 degrees Fahrenheit (-250 degrees Celsius). “
“If the gases we observe reflect the composition of 2I / Borisov’s birthplace, then it shows that it may have formed differently than comets in our own solar system, in an extremely cold outer region of a distant planetary system,” he added. Cordiner.
At the moment, scientists and astronomers still don’t know what type of star the comet orbits before entering Earth’s solar system. ALMA has continued to observe the comet, which is done using telescopes to monitor 2I / Borisov.
Anthony Remijan, co-author of the study at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, Virginia, praised ALMA for its monitoring and said, “ALMA has been instrumental in transforming our understanding of the nature of cometary material in our own solar system, and now with this unique object that comes from our next door neighbors. “
“It is only because of ALMA’s unprecedented sensitivity at sub-millimeter wavelengths that we can characterize the gas coming out of those unique objects,” added Remijan.
2I / Borisov is the second interstellar object to enter our solar system, after the discovery of Oumuamua, an asteroid, in 2017.
Commenting on the importance of the comet, Milam noted that “2I / Borisov gave us the first insight into the chemistry that shaped another planetary system.”
“But only when we can compare the object with other interstellar comets, we will know if 2I / Borisov is a special case, or if each interstellar object has unusually high levels of CO (carbon monoxide),” he added.
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