2I/Borisov
The second interstellar visitor
Discovered in 2019 by amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov, this was the first confirmed interstellar comet — clearly displaying a tail and coma like a familiar comet, but from another star system.
Image: NASA / ESA / Hubble
Vital statistics
Type
Interstellar Comet
Discovered
Aug 30, 2019
Nucleus
~0.5 km
Speed
32.2 km/s (hyperbolic)
Did you know
First confirmed interstellar comet.
Fact 01
Tail contains carbon monoxide at unusually high levels.
Fact 02
Now leaving the solar system, never to return.
Fact 03
Research & publications
Jump straight into peer-reviewed papers, preprints and authoritative references for 2I/Borisov.
arXiv (preprints)
Open-access preprints in physics & astrophysics.
NASA ADS
The definitive bibliographic database for astronomy.
Google Scholar
Cross-publisher academic search.
Nature
Peer-reviewed articles in Nature & sister journals.
Wikipedia
Encyclopedic overview & onward references.
Tip: ask the Research AI for a curated reading list → /research
