Since 2I/Borisov comet, an interstellar object discovered last August by an amateur astronomer in Crimea, approached the Sun on 8 December 2019, scientists had been watching it closely to ascertain whether it will continue its way through the universe or meet the fate of some other space rocks and fall apart after meeting with our home star.
The first interstellar comet to visit our Solar System, 2I/Borisov, is breaking into pieces, the images from the Hubble Space Telescope analysed by a team of astronomers led by David Jewitt showed.
According to the researchers’ analysis published on the Astronomer’s Telegram, there is a significant difference between a set of images of the comet taken on 23 March and seven days later, on 30 March, which tend to show that the object has started breaking into pieces.
The comet, which was discovered in August 2019 by amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov and named after him, closely approached the Sun on 8 December 2019. Since then, scientists have been monitoring its behaviour, as it is common for comets to break apart after passing the perihelion, although not unavoidable.
Earlier in March, another team of astronomers from Poland argued that they spotted a significant brightening of the comet, which they believed had indicated that the object was starting to decay.
It looks like there is not much hope left for 2I/Borisov to continue its way through the universe, as it was the second interstellar object and the first ever interstellar comet to enter our Solar System.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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