Comet 2l/Borisov as captured by Hubble. Original image NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (UCLA). Text added by author.

Hubble catches interstellar visitor speeding past the Sun

The comet 2l/Borisov has been observed by the Hubble Space Telescope as it speeds past the Sun on its way out of the solar system.

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured stunning images of the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov as it hurtles past the Sun on its journey out of the solar system and back to interstellar space. Not only is Borisov just the second interstellar visitor to be spotted in the solar system, but travelling at
175,000 km/h it is the fastest comet ever observed.

Hubble first spotted the comet in October 2019 at a distance of around
420 million km from Earth. The new observations from November and December snap Borisov at a closer distance and thus exposes the comet’s characteristics in finer detail.

Comet 2l/Borisov against the galaxy 2MASX J10500165–0152029 In this image taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in November 2019, the comet appears in front of a distant background spiral galaxy. The galaxy’s bright central core is smeared in the image because Hubble was tracking the comet. Borisov was approximately 326 million kilometres from Earth in this exposure. Its tail of ejected dust streaks off to the upper right. NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (UCLA)

The first image (above) shows Borisov framed against the distant spiral galaxy 2MASX J10500165–0152029 — its central core blurred because Hubble was tracking the comet. In this particular image, Borisov is approximately 326 million km from Earth — its trail of ejected dust can…