APOD: 2019 October 18 - Interstellar Interloper 2I Borisov

Good Red Friday morning, Rallypoint. Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is titled "Interstellar Interloper 2I Borisov." Comet 2I/Borisov is the second recognized interstellar interloper, for its measured hyperbolic trajectory and speed as it falls toward the Sun confirm that its origin is from beyond our Solar System. No one knows where it came from. No one knows how long it has been drifting through the empty, cold abyss of interstellar space. 2I/Borisov was detected falling past our Sun by a Crimean amateur astronomer. It captured the attention of worldwide astronomers who aimed all kinds of telescopes at it to watch the comet sprout a dust tail. Like a racetrack photographer trying to capture a speeding derby horse, Hubble took a series of snapshots as the comet streaked along at 110,000 miles per hour. The comet was 260 million miles from Earth when Hubble took the photo. It will come closest to the Sun on December 7th.