Swapping Comets

(Fair Use)

Just as stars here on earth flash jewelry at one another, stars in the heavens might swap comets.

Scientists using the Pan-STARRS1 telescope may have recently “found a comet of interstellar origin,” the trajectory of which is different from those solely within our solar system.

How could a comet manage to break loose from its own system?  A fast enough flight might enable an escape from the original star’s gravitational pull.  This type of “eccentric” flight path has been called an “hyperbolic [exaggerated] orbit.”

Resources

https://www.engadget.com/2017/10/25/researchers-observe-first-known-interstellar-comet/ 

Copyright October 26, 2017 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved