Interstellar comet has a brand-new name
Gemini Observatory/NSF/AURA
The second interstellar comet detected in our Solar System now has an official name. Meet 2I/Borisov, the latest object to zoom into our cosmic neighborhood from somewhere very far away.
The object formerly known as C/2019 Q4 was given its name on Tuesday by the International Astronomical Union, the organization that officially names just about anything in the Universe that isn’t on Earth. The 2I refers to the fact that researchers are now confident that this is the second interstellar object ever discovered in our Solar System.
Researchers have been tracking the object since it was discovered on August 30th by an amateur astronomer in Crimea named Gennady Borisov. And that’s where the second part of this object’s name comes in — the...