Modern technologies and advanced telescopes allow scientists to make more and more interesting discoveries regarding cosmic bodies, their characteristics and origin. For example, back in 1986, David Machholz, using a fairly simple homemade cardboard telescope, was able to notice a comet in deep space, which was later named after him, but then the specialist could not even imagine how unique this object was. Only now, decades later, when a comet called 96P / Machholz 1 crossed the limits of the solar system, scientists from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (part of NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) were able to study its characteristics in detail, noting that this body from another star system.
However, the uniqueness of the comet is not only that it arrived in the solar system from another star system, overcoming an insane distance (for example, the closest star system to Earth, Alpha Centauri, is located at a distance of about 4.244 light years).
“96P is a very atypical comet, both in composition and behavior, so we never know exactly what we can learn. [в процессе изучения]”, – said Karl Battams (Karl Battams), an astrophysicist from the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington.
A significant difference between comet 96P / Machholz 1 and other similar cosmic bodies that were previously observed by scientists is its insane size – experts currently believe that the diameter of this object reaches 6 kilometers. It should be clarified that most of the comets that are in the solar system and eventually “fall” into the Sun have a diameter of about 10 meters. Accordingly, ordinary comets burn out on approach to the star, while 96P / Machholz 1, being 600 times larger than standard comets, may well reach the surface of the star. But even more interesting is the composition of this cosmic body. Now an unusual comet is slowly heading towards the Sun, being inside the orbit of Mercury, leaving behind a quite characteristic ice trail – it is also the “tail” of the comet. Scientists were able to study this “tail” in sufficient detail and came to the conclusion that comet 96P / Machholz 1 contains less than 1.5% of the expected level of chemical cyanogen, and also differs from ordinary comets in extremely low carbon content. It was on the basis of these data that the experts came to the conclusion that the space object is a “guest” from another system, possibly quite distant.
Researchers believe that such a huge cosmic body left its native star system due to the gravity of some huge planet, which threw the body out of the system into outer space.
Source: Trash Box
I’m Meagan Diaz, a news writer and author at World Stock Market. My main focus is on technology and stock market trends, and I’m passionate about helping readers stay informed on the ever-changing landscape. I bring extensive knowledge of the industry to my work as well as a knack for storytelling that makes my articles both accessible and engaging.
