Future interstellar comet? Gas-spewing object spotted in asteroid group near Jupiter
By Elizabeth Howell 5 hours ago
Researchers spotted a celestial object strangely outgassing far from the sun — like a comet — during a long road trip through our solar system that could conclude in interstellar space, NASA says.
The object is temporarily circling the sun in a group of ancient asteroids called Trojans, which are trapped by Jupiter's gravity and moving alongside the planet. New images from the Hubble Space Telescope revealed the cosmic interloper in its temporary parking spot, merrily spewing gas into space despite its great distance from the sun.
Simulations suggest the object originated in the icy Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune, and then flew closer to the sun from a "bucket brigade" of comets kicked in to a region between Jupiter and Neptune. The object, called a "Centaur", will only stay by Jupiter for a couple of years before the planet punts it out of the Trojan zone and forces the outgassing object towards the sun, for further adventures.
This image, captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, shows the comet P/2019 LD2 as it swoops closely to
the Trojans, the ancient asteroids trapped near Jupiter by the planet's gravitational pull.
(Image credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, B. Bolin (IPAC/Caltech); CC BY 4.0 )
It was new observations from Hubble that revealed the shroud of gas and dust, confirming earlier suspicions of this activity spotted with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope days before Spitzer's retirement in early 2020.
More:
https://www.space.com/interstellar-comet-near-jupiter-trojan-asteroids?utm_source=notification