Spaceship shaped object captured by Hubble

I’ve always embraced my own inner geek… but every once in a while I get a self inflicted reminder as to the precise level of nerd-girl-ishness that I’ve acquired.  Case in point. I’d heard on the radio about an object that was recently photographed by the Hubble Telescope.  Apparently, it resembled some kind of spacecraft.  Of course, I had to run home and Google it.

When I found an article about this object, I scrolled through all of the words and went straight for the picture. It was exactly at this moment that I confirmed to myself that not only am I charming and lovable, but that I am also a certifiable, undeniable, irreversible dork .  As I gazed upon the picture, I said aloud, “Holy crap! That’s totally a Klingon Bird of Prey!”

Hehehe. You love me!

This object was captured by Hubble between January 25 and 29.  Traveling at 11,000 miles per hour, this thing which NASA calls P/2010-A2 is absolutely remarkable, whatever it is.  Scientists speculate that it may be a comet formed by two colliding asteroids. Or as I was just informed… it could be a B-wing as featured in Return of the Jedi.  But that’s just plain dweeby and should be discounted as pure conjecture.

So, back to the more boring explanation. According to UCLA investigator David Jewitt, regarding the two asteroid theory:

“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.” (Gizmodo.com)

Whatever the thing is, I find it to be awe-inspiring.  I marvel at the beauty and mystery of what looms in the cosmos.

So, on that note I say…

Qapla‘! (Which means “Good-bye”, or more accurately, “Success!” in Klingon.)

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