[slate]
This new Hubble image
shows comet 2I/Borisov as it comes into the solar system
and is starting to heat up and emit gases. There's a long tail
as the gases are emitted off. [slate]
[slate] We are
particularly excited about comet Borisov because we caught it on the way in and
we can observe it as it comes in to closest approach to the sun and then
as it recedes out into interstellar space once again.
[slate]
Studying interstellar space is important
for understanding our place in the universe. Interstellar
space is what our solar system is embedded in, and that we're moving through.
So our ability to understand what's out there and what we're colliding with as we
move through it, what we might see as we move through it is very exciting.
[slate]
An interstellar object is something that's out in interstellar space.
Usually moving through it at relatively high velocity.
It can be as simple as dust and gas or it can be a larger object like
an asteroid or a comet. [slate]
Studying and
imaging comets is important because in many cases they sample
what the surroundings were in which it formed.
What the chemical composition, et cetera of the material in which formed is.
It can be a way to sample the early stages of our solar system if it's a local
comet. Or with an interstellar comet it can actually give us
information on what conditions were like in a system far away from us.
[slate]
Interstellar space is
the space between the stars. We have our local solar
system with the sun and the planets in it including the Earth. And a large
distance to the nearest star. And all of that space between our solar system
and the neighboring stars is interstellar space. The space between
the stars. It's mostly empty but it does have objects moving through it.