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[slate]

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[slate]

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This new Hubble image

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shows comet 2I/Borisov as it comes into the solar system

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and is starting to heat up and emit gases. There's a long tail

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as the gases are emitted off. [slate]

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[slate] We are

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particularly excited about comet Borisov because we caught it on the way in and

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we can observe it as it comes in to closest approach to the sun and then

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as it recedes out into interstellar space once again.

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[slate]

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Studying interstellar space is important

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for understanding our place in the universe. Interstellar

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space is what our solar system is embedded in, and that we're moving through.

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So our ability to understand what's out there and what we're colliding with as we

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move through it, what we might see as we move through it is very exciting.

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[slate]

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An interstellar object is something that's out in interstellar space.

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Usually moving through it at relatively high velocity.

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It can be as simple as dust and gas or it can be a larger object like

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an asteroid or a comet. [slate]

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Studying and

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imaging comets is important because in many cases they sample

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what the surroundings were in which it formed.

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What the chemical composition, et cetera of the material in which formed is.

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It can be a way to sample the early stages of our solar system if it's a local

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comet. Or with an interstellar comet it can actually give us

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information on what conditions were like in a system far away from us.

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[slate]

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Interstellar space is

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the space between the stars. We have our local solar

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system with the sun and the planets in it including the Earth. And a large

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distance to the nearest star. And all of that space between our solar system

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and the neighboring stars is interstellar space. The space between

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the stars. It's mostly empty but it does have objects moving through it.