1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,980 [slate] 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:07,990 [slate] 3 00:00:08,010 --> 00:00:11,990 First of all, we see these beautiful 4 00:00:12,010 --> 00:00:15,990 clouds of gas and dust where stars form. And now we're 5 00:00:16,010 --> 00:00:19,990 starting to detect these objects that have been ejected out of other star 6 00:00:20,010 --> 00:00:24,170 systems. Have traveled through interstellar space and are now whizzing 7 00:00:24,190 --> 00:00:28,180 through our own solar system. From these objects we can understand 8 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:32,180 how they formed as we look at their composition and nature 9 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:36,190 and compare that to how our own solar system and objects here formed. 10 00:00:36,210 --> 00:00:40,190 And see how we're similar and different. [slate] 11 00:00:40,210 --> 00:00:44,190 [slate] 12 00:00:44,210 --> 00:00:48,370 With Hubble's very high resolution 13 00:00:48,390 --> 00:00:52,380 we can hone in on the nucleus, the center part of that comet's 14 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:56,380 core and see how it separates or is different from the surrounding 15 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:00,400 more nebulous, dusty, gassy coma around 16 00:01:00,420 --> 00:01:04,400 the nucleus. [slate] 17 00:01:04,420 --> 00:01:08,410 [slate] 18 00:01:08,430 --> 00:01:12,420 We know of a lot of comets in our solar system, 19 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:16,420 famous ones like Comet Halley and a lot of comets that are not so famous. 20 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:20,430 But they all originate in our own solar system. Usually from the outer 21 00:01:20,450 --> 00:01:24,430 reaches of the solar system, and come near to the sun occasionally. 22 00:01:24,450 --> 00:01:28,430 This new object discovered came from outside 23 00:01:28,450 --> 00:01:32,440 our solar system. From some other star system and has traveled across 24 00:01:32,460 --> 00:01:36,440 space and is whizzing through our solar system for one quick pass. 25 00:01:36,460 --> 00:01:40,450 So we want to study it very well while we can. 26 00:01:40,470 --> 00:01:44,460 [slate] 27 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:48,470 We're really excited because this 28 00:01:48,490 --> 00:01:52,480 is only the second time we've seen an object whizzing through the 29 00:01:52,500 --> 00:01:56,530 solar system from interstellar space. Now recently 30 00:01:56,550 --> 00:02:00,550 we also observed an object called 'Oumuamua. This is more like 31 00:02:00,570 --> 00:02:04,550 an asteroid object whizzing through the solar system. And now 32 00:02:04,570 --> 00:02:08,560 the second object that we've detected looks more like a comet. 33 00:02:08,580 --> 00:02:12,740 It's got a nucleus but kind of a fuzzy cloud around it we call a coma 34 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:16,750 that's got gas and dust. So by comparing 35 00:02:16,770 --> 00:02:20,760 these two objects we'll be able to understand more about 36 00:02:20,780 --> 00:02:24,770 interstellar objects, their origins, and what they're like. 37 00:02:24,790 --> 00:02:28,770 [slate] 38 00:02:28,790 --> 00:02:32,770 [slate] 39 00:02:32,790 --> 00:02:36,770 Interstellar space, is the space basically the space between 40 00:02:36,790 --> 00:02:40,780 stars. Stars are a long way from one another and interstellar 41 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:44,790 space is all that region between those stars. 42 00:02:44,810 --> 00:02:48,790 [slate] 43 00:02:48,810 --> 00:02:52,790 An interstellar object 44 00:02:52,810 --> 00:02:56,790 would be something like a comet or an asteroid that's traveling between 45 00:02:56,810 --> 00:03:00,810 stars and star systems. 46 00:03:00,830 --> 00:03:05,000 [slate] 47 00:03:05,020 --> 00:03:09,180 Studying comets is very important because 48 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:13,190 comets tell us something about how star systems formed. 49 00:03:13,210 --> 00:03:17,190 They're usually made of material that's very pristine and preserved from 50 00:03:17,210 --> 00:03:21,190 early parts of the formation of that star system. 51 00:03:21,210 --> 00:03:25,200 [slate] 52 00:03:25,220 --> 00:03:29,200 [slate] 53 00:03:29,220 --> 00:03:33,220 A comet is an object usually thought of as kind of an 54 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:37,220 a conglomeration of dust and ice, kind of loosely 55 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:41,220 held together. A little more loosely than what we might think of as an asteroid or 56 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:43,403 a hard rock.