第二個星際訪客可能攜帶著“外星人”的水蒸氣

第二個星際訪客可能攜帶著“外星人”的水蒸氣

A mysterious comet that has just entered our solar system could be carrying “alien water,” according to a new study.

一項(xiàng)新的研究表明，一顆剛剛進(jìn)入太陽系的神秘彗星可能攜帶著“外星水”。

Researchers analyzing the interstellar 2I/Borisov comet think that it’s releasing water vapor as it zooms closer to us from light-years away.

分析這顆星際2I/Borisov彗星的研究人員認(rèn)為，它在離我們幾光年遠(yuǎn)的地方向我們靠近時釋放出水蒸氣。

Scientists have been comparing it to the creepy space rock Oumuamua.

科學(xué)家們一直將其與令人毛骨悚然的太空巖石Oumuamua進(jìn)行比較。

NASA/ESA/D. JEWITT (UCLA)

Oumuamua was the first interstellar object to be detected in our solar system, meaning it had traveled from a far off place outside the Milky Way.

Oumuamua是在我們的太陽系中發(fā)現(xiàn)的第一個星際物體，這意味著它來自銀河系以外的一個遙遠(yuǎn)的地方。

It is so unusual in shape and behavior that some people even thought it was an alien probe.

它的形狀和行為如此不同尋常，以至于一些人甚至認(rèn)為它是一個外星探測器。

Comet 2I/Borisov is the second “alien” visitor ever seen by astronomers.

彗星2I/Borisov是天文學(xué)家所見過的第二個“外星”訪客。

The interstellar water vapor proposal has been submitted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

星際水蒸氣的提議已經(jīng)提交給了《天體物理學(xué)雜志快報》。

The researchers wrote: “The discovery of interstellar comet 2I/Borisov provides an opportunity to sample the volatile composition of a comet that is unambiguously from outside our own solar system, providing constraints on the physics and chemistry of other protostellar discs.”

研究人員寫道:“星際彗星2I/Borisov的發(fā)現(xiàn)為我們提供了一個機(jī)會，可以對來自我們太陽系之外的彗星的揮發(fā)性成分進(jìn)行采樣，從而對其他原恒星盤的物理和化學(xué)構(gòu)成形成約束。”

The team will continue to observe the comet in the hope of learning new things as it makes its closest approach to the Sun on December 8.

該團(tuán)隊(duì)將繼續(xù)觀察這顆彗星，希望在12月8日它最接近太陽的時候能發(fā)現(xiàn)新的東西。