From Gizmodo.com

Hubble has discovered a mysterious X-shaped object traveling at 11,000mph. NASA says that P/2010-A2 may be a comet, product of the collision between two asteroids. Or a Klingon Bird of Prey. Either way, UCLA investigator David Jewitt is excited:

"This is quite different from the smooth dust envelopes of normal comets. The filaments are made of dust and gravel, presumably recently thrown out of the nucleus. Some are swept back by radiation pressure from sunlight to create straight dust streaks. Embedded in the filaments are co-moving blobs of dust that likely originated from tiny unseen parent bodies."

OK, David, we will believe you until Jerry Bruckheimer finish his next movie, in which a "comet" suddenly stops, turns to Earth, and starts firing anti-matter rays against our underpants.

The weirdest thing, however, is not only the prettyful X-shaped debris pattern, but the fact that its 460-foot-wide nucleus is outside the dust halo and separated from the trail. This behavior is something which has never been seen before in a comet or any other solar-system-swooshing object.

The images—taken by Hubble between January 25 and January 29—lead NASA to believe that this is a product of the collision of two asteroids. The nucleus would be the "surviving remnant of a hypervelocity collision:

"If this interpretation is correct, two small and previously unknown asteroids recently collided, creating a shower of debris that is being swept back into a tail from the collision site by the pressure of sunlight. The filamentary appearance of P/2010 A2 is different from anything seen in Hubble images of normal comets, consistent with the action of a different process."

In other words: They have no clue about what this is, and they are still speculating about how this object was formed. Maybe it's time to call Dr. Zarkov.

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Makes ya wonder, huh? So guys, whatcha think? We alone? Or is there life outside of our solar system? (sorry, I'm a total geek with space stuffs)

Ever play EVE online?

Duh...

Interesting...My money is on that we are not alone...

Interesting...My money is on that we are not alone...

Until the Army gets ahold of them like we did with Area 51, then we will be alone again

Until the Army gets ahold of them like we did with Area 51, then we will be alone again

:popcorn:

Tell me more... are the aliens comming already?

There is other life out in the universe, and most likely, they'll invade and conquer us.

They're just waiting for Chuck Norris to die first.

True true true!

i do believe that we are not the only intelegent life out there. we have to be just IDIOTS to think that we are the only life out there.

and please chuck dont die! i dont want them to invade!

I think so too. and on all the forums I shared this on, this was the best response:

I wouldn't be surprised if visiting our planet was the intergalactic equivalent of jumping a fence and going cow-tipping

Funny, but damn, probably true.

interesting find! thats really strange stuff right there if i may say

All of a sudden, I wanna bust out StarCraft.

' date='Feb 7 2010, 12:57 PM' post='9361']

All of a sudden, I wanna bust out StarCraft.

I was thinking mass effect.

Or dead space.

' date='Feb 7 2010, 10:57 AM' post='9361']

All of a sudden, I wanna bust out StarCraft.

haha! i have that game too.

haha! i have that game too.

Starcraft FTW!!!

Starcraft FTW!!!