Catalina Sky Survey teammate Richard Kowalski found a faint moving point of light in the night sky. After his discovery observations were posted on the Minor Planet Center's website it was observed by 10 other telescopes around the world and given the name 2013 US10. It has taken additional observations to reveal that Kowalski's object is not an asteroid but rather a comet which came closest to the Sun on November 15, 2015. After that its speed will be so great that it will leave our solar system never to return. Its path is not in the direction of any known star making it likely that it will continue its cold lonely journey till the end of time.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related