Astronomers have discovered a fast-moving comet, named Comet A117uUD, that was flung out of our solar system at a speed exceeding 6,700 miles per hour after a close encounter with Saturn in 2022. This discovery was made in June and published in July. Originally thought to be possibly interstellar in origin, the researchers have now confirmed that the comet actually originated within our solar system.
This is the second time a comet has been observed to be launched out of our solar system after a planetary encounter, the first being Comet C/1980 E1 (Bowell) in 1980. The study suggests that these events may be relatively frequent.
Interestingly, in recent years, there have been other interstellar objects passing through our solar system, such as the comet Oumuamua in 2017 and Comet 2I/Borisov in 2019. The study also explains the odd orbit of Comet A117uUD as a simple physical mechanism of outgassing of hydrogen as the comet warms in sunlight.
While some theories in the past, like that of Harvard professor Avi Loeb, have suggested the possibility of interstellar objects being extraterrestrial in nature, the team of researchers now definitively believe that Comet A117uUD is a product of our own solar system. This discovery sheds light on the dynamic interactions and events that can occur in our cosmic neighborhood.
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