[ad_1]
Earlier this year, astronomers discovered the largest comet ever, which is nearly 100 miles wide. Now, further study reveals that this monster is heading towards the sun – but don’t worry, it won’t pose any threat to us on Earth because it won’t come any closer than Saturn’s orbit.
The comet, named Bernardinelli-Bernstein after its discoverers, is estimated to be around 95 miles in diameter and was identified using data from the Dark Energy Survey. Since its discovery, researchers have been looking at the data to find out more and will soon publish an article about it in Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The comet has an extremely elongated orbit and is currently heading towards the Oort Cloud – a hypothetical group of icy bodies lying well beyond Pluto’s orbit. According to the new document, it will reach its perihelion, or the point at which it comes closest to the sun, in 2031. It will be within 11 AU of the sun (astronomical units, where 1 AU is the average distance between the sun and Earth), which places it beyond Saturn’s orbit.
This gives scientists an exciting opportunity to study the comet up close (ish), using tools such as the upcoming Vera C. Rubin observatory. This observatory will survey the sky to identify many comets, even those much smaller than Bernardinelli-Bernstein. The observatory will also follow the comet as it approaches to allow researchers to learn more about objects in the Oort Cloud and what they can tell us about the early solar system.
“We are privileged to have discovered perhaps the largest comet ever – or at least larger than any well-studied comet – and to have caught it early enough for people to see it evolve as it evolves. comes closer and warms up, ”discoverer Gary Bernstein said earlier. This year. “He hasn’t visited the solar system for over 3 million years.”
Editor’s recommendations
[ad_2]
Source link