A Comet from the Stars? [merged]

[bison]

An interstellar comet, one with an origin outside our solar system may have just been discovered. It is designated C/2017 U1, and has been under observation for just six days. Its orbit so far appears substantially hyperbolic (eccentricity 1.18), indicating it may not be in orbit of our Sun, but just passing through our part of space. Continued observation of the comet should settle this question definitely. If the hyperbolic nature of this comet's orbit can be established, it will be the first time such an interstellar visitor has been observed. Please find a link below to a brief article on this comet:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2017_U1_(PANSTARRS)  

Edited October 25, 2017 by bison
added information, also edited for style

[bison]

A link to another article, with more details on the newly discovered comet. It seems that the object has already passed as close to the Sun and the Earth as it will. and that it came from the general direction of the bright star Vega, in the Lyra constellation The comet may have been ejected from its own star system when it passed very near a massive planet there, and was accelerated to the point that it escaped its star. 

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/astronomers-spot-first-known-interstellar-comet/ 

Edited October 25, 2017 by bison
corrected grammar

[Essan]

However often can we see a comet in the glare of our own sun?  Let alone one billions of miles away    



 

[bison]

After very careful observations at the Very Large Telescope showed no traces whatever of any cometary emissions, the object was been renamed A/2017 U1, signifying that it is an asteroid.  They believe it passed nearest the Sun on Sept. 9, and within 15 million miles of Earth on Oct. 14. 

Further observations have strengthened the proposition that the object's path is hyperbolic. The current eccentricity is calculated at 1.19, up from 1.18. 

The greatest eccentricity seen before in a space object was 1.057. This was due to an encounter with a major planet, not an indication that the object came from outside our solar system. 

Please find below, a link to an article on the newly designated object, with further information about it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/2017_U1 

[+Hammerclaw]

Bears a curious resemblance to a gravity-assist maneuver.  

[bison]

If the hyperbolic object is not icy, as indicated, it may have come from the inner part of its home star system, where any ice would have sublimed away long ago.  An encounter with a major planet could then have ejected it from its system, and sent it our way.  

If this happened in the inner part of the star system, it may have involved a close-in 'hot Jupiter. Otherwise, ejections by inner system interactions are thought to be less probable than ones more distant from the star. Then, too, an object originating in the outer part of a star system would be likely to still contain ice. 

Edited October 27, 2017 by bison
corrected spelling

[LucidElement]

Watch this diagram... i mean it looks like it dropped something off and shot back up to wherever it came from.

 

The PanSTARRS telescope spotted the object only after it was flung back out towards the stars by our Sun.

It’s not likely to ever return. It flashed past Earth at 24 million kilometres on October 14.

Many eyes watched it closely, keen to determine exactly what it was. Their curiosity was piqued by where it had come from.

Most objects orbiting our Sun do so along a common plane: the planets, dwarf planets and asteroids mostly swing around in roughly the same way.

This one appears to have come down on the plane from 122 degrees, from the direction of the star Vega, in the constellation Lyra. And its path did not indicate the curved ellipse typical of clockwork-like returning comets.

Best guesstimates make it a comet of about 160m diameter, with a surface reflectivity (albedo) of about 10 per cent.

 

Link: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2017/10/27/mysterious-object-from-deep-space-has-entered-solar-system.html

[spud the mackem]

If its not a Comet , it may be an asteroid , or maybe its got an engine

[paperdyer]

First it's a comet, then it's an asteroid, what's next?  Dare we say Space craft that came, it saw, it went?

[bison]

 The object appears as a point of light. We would need evidence to justify the speculation that it is a space vessel, instead of an asteroid. Has the object done anything that an asteroid would not, or could not do?  Any anomalistic motions, for example? 

[XenoFish]

Nibiru didn't hit us as so many had hoped.

[Parsec]

That is so fascinating! 

What completely baffles me is the velocity. 

It would take it roughly one month to fly from Earth to Mars! 

For comparison, it takes our probes around seven months. 

Just wow. 

[LucidElement]

Don’t meteors or asteroids explode on impact ? And not bounce like a ball straight back up?

[Smarty Throusers]

I have some mysterious objects coming in my path lately...

[taniwha]

12 hours ago, bison said:

 The object appears as a point of light. We would need evidence to justify the speculation that it is a space vessel, instead of an asteroid. Has the object done anything that an asteroid would not, or could not do?  Any anomalistic motions, for example? 

Is the object reflecting light or emitting light?  That should narrow it down.

[Essan]

It's obviously an Arcturian Megafreighter en route to Kakrafroon.   The sooner they get that hyperspace by-pass built the better, I say! 

[DieChecker]

On 10/25/2017 at 9:24 AM, bison said:

An interstellar comet, one with an origin outside our solar system may have just been discovered. It is designated C/2017 U1, and has been under observation for just six days. Its orbit so far appears substantially hyperbolic (eccentricity 1.18), indicating it may not be in orbit of our Sun, but just passing through our part of space. Continued observation of the comet should settle this question definitely. If the hyperbolic nature of this comet's orbit can be established, it will be the first time such an interstellar visitor has been observed. Please find a link below to a brief article on this comet:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2017_U1_(PANSTARRS)  

I thought I read that the object was officially categorized as an Asteroid and its name was changed to A/2017 U1. The lack of any comet coma was what drove the change, I believe.

It would be unbelievably cool if we could get a chunk of it to examine.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

9 hours ago, LucidElement said:

Don’t meteors or asteroids explode on impact ? And not bounce like a ball straight back up?

They do, but this didn't impact anything. 

[bison]

8 hours ago, taniwha said:

Is the object reflecting light or emitting light?  That should narrow it down.

It appears to be reflecting the Sun's light. The object has already dimmed noticeably, as it moves very rapidly, away from the Sun. It appears quite red in color, suggesting organic materials affected by long exposure to ultraviolet light. The hyperbolic asteroid has this in common with Kuiper Belt Objects, which orbit our Sun, mostly beyond the orbit of Neptune, as a sort of second asteroid belt.

  

Edited October 28, 2017 by bison

[Jon the frog]

Would have been great to use this object has a taxi for a long distance probe...

[bruce fiction]

I have never seen a comet are a asteroid come down then shoot back up to me that is impossible and to be frank if it was a comet are asteroid the sun would have burn it up because it was close to our sun

[Waspie_Dwarf]

30 minutes ago, bruce fiction said:

I have never seen a comet are a asteroid come down then shoot back up to me that is impossible

 It would be impossible if that was what happened, but it isn't what happens, not even close.

It passes from above the plain of the ecliptic, rounds the sun and has it;s orbit modified by the gravitational field of the sun. and the moves away from the sun below the plain of the ecliptic. It behaves EXACTLY like every other comet and asteroid in history with the one exception of having  originated outside of our solar system.

There is no " bouncing", there is no"shooting back up" there is simply an object obeying the laws of nature.

36 minutes ago, bruce fiction said:

Ito be frank if it was a comet are asteroid the sun would have burn it up because it was close to our sun

To be frank, you haven't got the vaguest idea what you are talking about.

The object never gets closer to the sun than 23 million miles. Sungrazer comets have survived passing a thousand times closer to the sun than this.

[Tatetopa]

9 minutes ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

It passes from above the plain of the ecliptic, rounds the sun and has it;s orbit modified by the gravitational field of the sun. and the moves away from the sun below the plain of the ecliptic. It behaves EXACTLY like every other comet and asteroid in history with the one exception of having  originated outside of our solar system.

I think that is why it seems to us to have come and gone so swiftly.  In fact I don't think we saw it coming until it was about  to be leaving.  It was outside the plane of the ecliptic, which is the area of highest population and where we spend time looking.  I think that was also the major argument for it being extra-solar, its unusual angle of approach.

Waspie, how far out does the Oort cloud go?  If the sun was formed at the same time as neighbor stars from a single gas cloud,  would leftover gas and dirt concrete between stellar systems and form chunks of ice, (comets guess) ?

[LucidElement]

17 hours ago, Waspie_Dwarf said:

They do, but this didn't impact anything. 

Ya because it was an alien lol... just kidding, kinda. Who knows honestly what’s out in our endless UNIVERSE.. but I know one thing , no one has seen anything PING/BOUNCE straight back up after watching it shoot straight down. I mean you gotta admit it’s interesting .

[Waspie_Dwarf]

2 hours ago, LucidElement said:

 but I know one thing , no one has seen anything PING/BOUNCE straight back up after watching it shoot straight down. .

And they still haven't, Sorry, but you don't know this one thing at all. Do you really believe that simply by looking at a picture YOU can determine that an object is displaying Kepler's Laws when the worlds best astronomers with access to some of the most powerful computers on Earth can see no such thing?

There is no "up and down"  There is no "PING/BOUNCE". There is merely a hyperbolic trajectory.

It only appears to be coming "down" because maps traditionally put the north at the top. It would be just as valid to put south at the top and have the comet/asteroid appearing to come up.

It is the very fact that it IS behaving exactly like any other object that enabled astronomers to betermine that it originated outside the solar system in the first place.

 

2 hours ago, LucidElement said:

I mean you gotta admit it’s interesting

I find the possibility that this object originated from out side the solar system highly interesting. I find the inability of people to admit that they don't understand what they are seeing interesting. I find the fact that this object obeys Kepler's Laws like every other solar system object ever observed not so interesting.