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A Giant Comet is Approaching Earth! Are Humans going to Meet the Same Destiny as Dinosaurs?
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Scientists have been holding their breath, observing a comet for quite a while now.
This comet is so massive that scientists first believed it to be a small planet.
The name of this comet is C/2014 UN271, also known as Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein.
What exactly do we know about this remarkable comet?
Could it possibly be responsible for the destruction of our Earth?
Should we be digging underground shelters and stockpiling food?
Asteroid or Comet?!
In October of 2014, scientists discovered a strange asteroid leaving the Oort cloud and heading toward the Solar System.
The diameter of this asteroid was estimated to be between 100 and 150 km.
In the category of asteroids, this size was quite large.
This asteroid was given the code C/2014 UN271 and astronomers set out to procure a detailed investigation.
After completing some orbit calculations, experts began to suspect that this object was not an asteroid but a comet.
This was because of the fact that this object was very distant from the sun.
The aphelion of this object, which is the point in orbit when it is farthest from the sun, was estimated to be 4000 - 54000 au.
In comparison, the dwarf planet, Sedna, is one of the most distant bodies in the solar system, other than long-period comets, but its aphelion is only 1000 au from the sun.
Yet, even by the standards of long-period comets, this object was speculated to have traveled an extremely long way.
There are only a few objects, as far as experts currently understand, that are this far from the sun.
An Overweight Comet?!
Comets must pay a heavy price for getting closer to the Sun.
In exchange for shining brightly in the night sky among other planets, they release and lose material the closer that they get to the sun.
Lost matter can never be returned.
For example, the famous Halley's comet now looks so small it can be compared to “used up bar soap”, with a nucleus only about 15 x 8 x 8 km in size.
Experts calculate that Halley's comet has lost 90% of its mass in the past 2000 to 3000 orbits.
In this way, short-period comets that orbit the sun in less than 200 years are often small and fade quickly.
On the other hand, long-period comets do not lose material as quickly and can only occasionally be observed in the Earth's night sky. These are much larger than short-period comets.
According to calculations by experts, it takes about 3 million years for Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein to circle the sun, making it by far the largest of the long-period comets.
Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein is still flying towards the Solar System.
It is currently located approximately 20 au from the sun, orbiting Uranus, and will reach perihelion, the point nearest the sun, in 2031.
Those that Claim the End of the World
Is there a possibility that Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein’s normal orbit will be affected by another celestial body and change direction to a more central area of the Solar System, heading straight for the blue planet we live in?
Experts assure us that the probability is extremely low and nothing we should be worrying about.
In theory, of course, anything can happen.
What would happen if a giant comet suddenly collided with the earth?
First, in the sky, we would see an incredibly bright comet trailing even more light.
Some of the long-period comets that once approached Earth were visible even in daylight.
The ice of these giant comets will melt for the first time after being struck by the sun’s heat.
The surface of its nucleus will boil and scatter like a geyser from many kilometers away.
A huge amount of ice, dust, and rock will be released into space, creating the comet's tail.
If the earth in orbit were to pass through the tail, we will see spectacular meteor showers.
The Day of Judgment
There is also speculation that Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein could fall apart as it approaches Earth.
Under the influence of the sun's light and heat, this comet is likely to break and fall apart.
Tremendous amounts of gas and liquid will boil inside the nucleus and spew outward one after another.
Under the influence of Earth’s gravity, it should become even more unstable.
Of course, we would be lucky if the comet breaks apart.
Some of this debris will be thrown out and fly into space or become satellites of the earth.
Some debris will also fall on various areas of the Earth over the course of a week or two, as was the case when fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy hit Jupiter in 1994.
Most of this debris will fall into the ocean, causing earthquakes and large tsunamis.
The first areas to be affected will be coastal areas, especially countries with low elevations such as the Netherlands, Bangladesh, and countries in Oceania.
If comet debris were to hit land, large amounts of dust would be thrown into the atmosphere, followed by "days without summer" for several years.
This comet is so massive that scientists first believed it to be a small planet.
The name of this comet is C/2014 UN271, also known as Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein.
What exactly do we know about this remarkable comet?
Could it possibly be responsible for the destruction of our Earth?
Should we be digging underground shelters and stockpiling food?
Asteroid or Comet?!
In October of 2014, scientists discovered a strange asteroid leaving the Oort cloud and heading toward the Solar System.
The diameter of this asteroid was estimated to be between 100 and 150 km.
In the category of asteroids, this size was quite large.
This asteroid was given the code C/2014 UN271 and astronomers set out to procure a detailed investigation.
After completing some orbit calculations, experts began to suspect that this object was not an asteroid but a comet.
This was because of the fact that this object was very distant from the sun.
The aphelion of this object, which is the point in orbit when it is farthest from the sun, was estimated to be 4000 - 54000 au.
In comparison, the dwarf planet, Sedna, is one of the most distant bodies in the solar system, other than long-period comets, but its aphelion is only 1000 au from the sun.
Yet, even by the standards of long-period comets, this object was speculated to have traveled an extremely long way.
There are only a few objects, as far as experts currently understand, that are this far from the sun.
An Overweight Comet?!
Comets must pay a heavy price for getting closer to the Sun.
In exchange for shining brightly in the night sky among other planets, they release and lose material the closer that they get to the sun.
Lost matter can never be returned.
For example, the famous Halley's comet now looks so small it can be compared to “used up bar soap”, with a nucleus only about 15 x 8 x 8 km in size.
Experts calculate that Halley's comet has lost 90% of its mass in the past 2000 to 3000 orbits.
In this way, short-period comets that orbit the sun in less than 200 years are often small and fade quickly.
On the other hand, long-period comets do not lose material as quickly and can only occasionally be observed in the Earth's night sky. These are much larger than short-period comets.
According to calculations by experts, it takes about 3 million years for Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein to circle the sun, making it by far the largest of the long-period comets.
Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein is still flying towards the Solar System.
It is currently located approximately 20 au from the sun, orbiting Uranus, and will reach perihelion, the point nearest the sun, in 2031.
Those that Claim the End of the World
Is there a possibility that Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein’s normal orbit will be affected by another celestial body and change direction to a more central area of the Solar System, heading straight for the blue planet we live in?
Experts assure us that the probability is extremely low and nothing we should be worrying about.
In theory, of course, anything can happen.
What would happen if a giant comet suddenly collided with the earth?
First, in the sky, we would see an incredibly bright comet trailing even more light.
Some of the long-period comets that once approached Earth were visible even in daylight.
The ice of these giant comets will melt for the first time after being struck by the sun’s heat.
The surface of its nucleus will boil and scatter like a geyser from many kilometers away.
A huge amount of ice, dust, and rock will be released into space, creating the comet's tail.
If the earth in orbit were to pass through the tail, we will see spectacular meteor showers.
The Day of Judgment
There is also speculation that Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein could fall apart as it approaches Earth.
Under the influence of the sun's light and heat, this comet is likely to break and fall apart.
Tremendous amounts of gas and liquid will boil inside the nucleus and spew outward one after another.
Under the influence of Earth’s gravity, it should become even more unstable.
Of course, we would be lucky if the comet breaks apart.
Some of this debris will be thrown out and fly into space or become satellites of the earth.
Some debris will also fall on various areas of the Earth over the course of a week or two, as was the case when fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy hit Jupiter in 1994.
Most of this debris will fall into the ocean, causing earthquakes and large tsunamis.
The first areas to be affected will be coastal areas, especially countries with low elevations such as the Netherlands, Bangladesh, and countries in Oceania.
If comet debris were to hit land, large amounts of dust would be thrown into the atmosphere, followed by "days without summer" for several years.
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