2I/Borisov (2019)
- Discovery / initial approach: Aug 30, 2019 (Gennady Borisov). (NASA Science)
- Velocity: NASA/Hubble releases cite ~100,000 mph (and in another asset ~110,000 mph) near perihelion. (Different NASA posts round this slightly differently.) (NASA Science)
- Size / shape / mass: Active comet with coma/tail; small nucleus (order ~km); mass not published by NASA. (NASA Science)
- Color / composition: Typical cometary ices and dust (comet-like behavior as it warms). (NASA Science)
Exit: Hyperbolic, unbound; continuing outbound to interstellar space. No NASA exit date specified. (NASA Science)
This image taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on Nov. 16, 2019 captures comet 2I/Borisov streaking though our solar system and on its way back to interstellar space. It is only the second interstellar object known to have passed through the solar system.
Comet 2I/Borisov appears in front of a distant background spiral galaxy (2MASX J10500165-0152029). The galaxy’s bright central core is smeared in the image because Hubble was tracking the comet. Comet Borisov was approximately 203 million miles from Earth in this exposure. Its tail of ejected dust streaks off to the upper right. The comet has been artificially colored blue to discriminate fine detail in the halo of dust, or coma, surrounding the central nucleus. It also helps to visually separate the comet from the background galaxy.
Contact will never come as thunder.
It will arrive as a whisper.
Only those who listen will hear it. — G5ASI
