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Alien Comet May Have Infiltrated the Solar System

Posted by kdawson on from the starseed-lure dept.

New Scientist has a piece about Comet Machholz 1, whose uncommon molecular composition suggests, but does not prove, that it may be an interloper from another star system. "Comet Machholz 1 isn't like other comets. David Schleicher of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, measured the chemical makeup of 150 comets, and found that they all had similar levels of the chemical cyanogen (CN) except for Machholz 1, which has less than 1.5% of the normal level. Along with some other comets, it is also low on the molecules carbon-2 and carbon-3."

2 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Does anybody know by mad_robot · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's the occulter pylon. It holds the occulting disk in place to mask out the light coming directly from the sun.

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    U1NCaVpYUWdlVzkxSUhkcGMyZ2dlVzkx SUdoaFpHNG5kQ0JpYjNSb1pYSmxaQT09
  2. Re:Oh, no, Alien Comet! by Alomex · · Score: 5, Informative

    the Oort cloud, hypothesized to be the source of all comets.

    Actually the very existence of the Oort cloud is hypothetical. While it provides a reasonable explanation for the existence of comets in our system there was no further independent confirmation until 2000, when more powerful telescopes identified one object that could belong to the cloud. Given that the number of comets could be into the trillions, having found a handful does not constitute definitive evidence, so it remains a mere hypothesis until more data is gathered.

    For a foreign body to enter the system, it would have to pass through the Oort cloud and that would be highly unlikely. It's most probably an Oort cloud comet of a new type.

    Comets in the Oort cloud are tens of millions of kilometers apart. An exo-solar comet would have no problem "sneaking" in.