SPACE — Astronomers have spotted a comet heading our way — will be the second interstellar object to ever be detected visiting our solar system.<br /><br />According to NASA's jet propulsion laboratory, comet C/2019 Q4 was first spotted by Ukrainian amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov on August 30.<br /><br />It is 20 kilometers wide and bright, unlike the small and faint Oumuamua, an interstellar object that passed through our solar system in 2017.<br /><br />The comet is currently 420 million kilometers from the Sun. It will reach its closest point on Dec. 8, 2019, at a distance of about 300 million kilometers.<br /><br />C/2019 Q4 appears to follow a hyperbolic trajectory and has a current velocity of 150,000 kilometers per hour. These both indicate that the comet is likely interstellar in nature — originating from beyond our solar system.<br /><br />Its high velocity also means it will later leave and head back to interstellar space.<br /><br />Unlike Oumuamua, C/2019 Q4 is an active comet. National Geographic reports that astronomers have detected its coma, the fuzzy envelope of dust and gas that forms around a comet's nucleus.<br /><br />According to NASA, the interstellar comet can be seen with professional telescopes in the coming months, peaking in brightness in mid-December. It will be observable with moderate-size telescopes until April 2020, but after that and through October 2020, it can only be seen with larger professional telescopes.
