Search

Interstellar comets penetrating through the Solar System had been anticipated for decades. The discovery of asteroidal-looking 'Oumuamua was thus a huge surprise and a puzzle. Furthermore, the physical properties of the 'first scout' turned out to be impossible to reconcile with Solar System objects, challenging our view of interstellar minor bodies. Here, we report the identification and early characterization of a new interstellar object, which has an evidently cometary appearance. The body was discovered by Gennady Borisov on 30 August 2019 UT and subsequently identified as hyperbolic by our data mining code in publicly available astrometric data. The initial orbital solution implies a very high hyperbolic excess speed of ~32 km/s, consistent with 'Oumuamua and theoretical predictions. Images taken on 10 and 13 September 2019 UT with the William Herschel Telescope and Gemini North Telescope show an extended coma and a faint, broad tail. We measure a slightly reddish colour with a g'-r' colour index of 0.66 +/- 0.01 mag, compatible with Solar System comets. The observed morphology is also unremarkable and best explained by dust with a power-law size-distribution index of -3.7 +/- 1.8 and a low ejection speed (44 +/- 14 m/s for $\beta$ = 1 particles, where $\beta$ is the ratio of the solar gravitational attraction to the solar radiation pressure). The nucleus is probably ~1 km in radius, again a common value among Solar System comets, and has a negligible chance of experiencing rotational disruption. Based on these early characteristics, and putting its hyperbolic orbit aside, 2I/Borisov appears indistinguishable from the native Solar System comets., Comment: Published in Nature Astronomy on 14 October 2019

We present the capabilities of our new code for obtaining Doppler maps implementing the maximum likelihood approach. As test data, we used observations of the dwarf nova V2051 Ophiuchi. The system was observed in quiescence at least 16 d before the onset of the next outburst. Using Doppler maps obtained for ten emission lines covering three orbital cycles, we detected spiral structures in the accretion disc of V2051 Oph. However, these structures could be biased as our data sampled the orbital period of the binary at only eight different orbital phases. Our Doppler maps show evolution from a one-arm wave structure in H$\alpha$ to two-armed waves in the other lines. The location of the two-arm structures agrees with simulations showing tidally driven spiral waves in the accretion disc. During consecutive cycles, the qualitative characteristics of the detected structures remained similar but the central absorption increased. For the first time, using the Doppler tomography method, we obtained temperature maps of the accretion disc. However, taking into account all the assumptions involved when using our method to retrieve them, the result should be treated with caution. Our maps present a relatively flat distribution of the temperature over the disc, showing no temperature increase at the location of the spiral arms. Using `ring masking', we have revealed an ionized region located close to the expected location of stream--disc interactions. We found the average temperature of the accretion disc to be 5600 K, which is below the critical limit deduced from the disc instability model., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We have analyzed the available spectra of WW And and for the first time obtained a reasonably well defined radial velocity curve of the primary star. Combined with the available radial velocity curve of the secondary component, these data led to the first determination of the spectroscopic mass ratio of the system at q-spec = 0.16 +/- 0.03. We also determined the radius of the accretion disc from analysis of the double-peaked H-alpha emission lines. Our new, high-precision, Johnson VRI and the previously available Stromgren vby light curves were modelled with stellar and accretion disc models. A consistent model for WW And - a semidetached system harbouring an accretion disc which is optically thick in its inner region, but optically thin in the outer parts - agrees well with both spectroscopic and photometric data., Comment: Accepted by New Astronomy