Object has visited us from an alien solar system, astronomers officially say

Scientists will get a much better chance to study '2I/Borisov' than they ever did with mysterious Oumuamua

An object speeding around near Earth is officially the second ever known visitor from another solar system, astronomers have said.

The comet, which has now been officially named 2I/Borisov, arrived here from somewhere very distant indeed, scientists say. It was first spotted some weeks ago by an amateur astronomer, but has now been given an official designation by the International Astronomical Union.

The "2I" in its name refers to the fact that it is the second known interstellar visitor. "Borisov" is the name of the Russian amateur astronomer who first spotted it, and began the hunt for more information about our new visitor.

It had previously been known as C/2019 Q4 but got its new name after being officially confirmed by the IAU, which is responsible for naming and cataloguing objects in space.

The object is the first comet known to have arrived in our solar system. The first confirmed object, named Oumuamua, still remains largely mysterious – with astronomers still uncertain about what it even is, let alone where it came from or how it got here.

The new comet is destined to be less mysterious. Its journey means that it will be nearby for much longer, giving astronomers a chance to observe it more fully and hopefully understand more of its story.

2I/Borisov was first seen at the end of August by Gennady Borisov, from Crimea. He noticed that it appeared to be a comet, based on the haze that surrounded it, and he turned out to be right – since comets tend to be named after the person who first spotted them, it was given his name.

That distinctive tail is helping astronomers understand more about how the comet is making its way through the universe. Its current orbit suggests that it will be flying around the solar system for months, coming close to the Sun on 7 December and then flying out of the solar system.

During that time, astronomers are scanning the visitor to learn as much as they can about it. That could help illuminate its origin and its destination, more about what it is made of, and how it could have been sent all the way to us – questions that could not be fully answered about Oumuamua, since it was spotted so late and was already heading out of the solar system before researchers could turn their attention to it fully.