☄️ For the first time ever, astronomers have caught a "dark comet" sprouting a tail.
Dark comets look like asteroids but mysteriously speed up as if pushed by invisible jets. Now a team using the Very Large Telescope in Chile has finally photographed a tail on one, confirming they really are comets.
This is huge because it likely solves the 'Oumuamua mystery from 2017 - that weird interstellar object that accelerated for no obvious reason. Turns out it was probably just venting gas from hidden ice, not aliens.
Nearly 20 dark comets are now known, and scientists think there could be far more hiding in plain sight. Since comets may have delivered Earth's oceans, finding a hidden population of them could reshape our understanding of how our planet became habitable.
Published in Nature Astronomy this week.
scientificamerican.com/article…
‘Dark’ comets sprouting tails could help solve interstellar mysteries
A strange class of comet could explain the enigmatic behavior of ‘Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object—and even shed light on how Earth became habitableDarryl Z. Seligman (Scientific American)
Roy -- the dull one
in reply to jcrabapple • • •The alien invaders have recognized now that their maneuvers have been detected by some asstronomers, who are raising alarm about the military threats. So the aliens have now equipped their stealthy craft with simulated comet tails, and the humans can go back to munching their snacks and insulting each other.
No doubt, the Universe is unfolding as it should.