Comet Borisov is the second interstellar space rock to visit the solar system after the discovery of Asteroid Oumuamua in 2017. However, unlike Oumuamua, the comet is flying through the solar system and not straight out of it. As a result, astronomers have an unprecedented opportunity to track and study the space rock for up to one year. Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi told Express.co.uk this makes Comet Borisov one of the most exciting objects in the solar system.
Dr Masi, who runs the Rome-based Virtual Telescope Project, said: “Astronomers will have much more time to study this object than the time we had to follow up 1I/’Oumuamua in 2017.
“Likely, comet C/2019 Q4 Borisov will be around for one year, bright enough to be studied with our telescopes.
“Assuming the orbital elements we have so far, the comet will be at its closest to our planet at the end of next December, at about 300 million km from us.
“I bet this will become one of the most studied astronomical objects of recent years.”
When Oumuamua passed through the system, astronomers only had about one week to track the alien space rock.
Now, researchers will have up to a year to collect all the data they can about the mysterious object.
Comet Borisov was first spotted barrelling through the system on August 30 this year by Ukrainian astronomer Gennady Borisov.
The comet has since been officially designated CF/2019 Q4 Borisov after its founder.
Dr Masi has spotted the comet himself, photographing it around 4.10am BST on Saturday, September 14.
The astronomer said the object’s trajectory and speed strongly suggest it appeared from outside of the solar system.
The comet appears as nothing more than a blip in the astronomer’s initial observation.
Dr Masi said: “Despite the full Moon and the low altitude of the object above the horizon, I could capture the comet.”
The image is the result of five, 300-second long exposures taken by the Virtual Telescope’s Elena instrument.
The long exposures explain why stars in the photo appear as bright and blurry streaks.
The comet is mostly likely flying through our system from the Oort Cloud – a group of icy rocks beyond the farthest fringes of the solar system.
Comet Borisov will be closest to our planet in late December this year.
According to astronomers from the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, the rock measures somewhere in the range of 6.2 miles (10km) across.
The comet is flying through space at breakneck speeds of around 30km per second or 67,108mph.
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