Monster Comet to Visit "Inner" Solar System in 2031 - The Cosmic Companion June 26, 2021
From the depths of the Oort Cloud comes a massive icy visitor - Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein - possibly the largest comet ever found.
The monster comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein, found over four billion kilometers from the Sun is quickly approaching the “inner” solar system. It’s a whopper.
Three billion kilometers from the Sun, a mammoth comet is tumbling, slowly gaining speed as it slowly, inevitably, slips toward the center of the Solar System. As it does, this behemoth “dirty snowball” will warm, pushing gas and dust behind it, forming a tail. A monster comet is headed our way.
In just 10 years, this icy behemoth will make its closest approach to the Sun. Those hoping for a historic show, however, are likely to be disappointed, as this frozen body will never get close enough to the Sun for a monster display. Still, this encounter with a Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO) is a fascinating chance for astronomers to examine a body from the furthest reaches of the Solar System.
Comets are notoriously hard to predict, and the discovery of this new body poses a myriad of questions.
Read more: https://thecosmiccompanion.net/monster-comet-2014-un271-to-visit-inner-solar-system-in-2031
Join us on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion this Tuesday, June 29, when we talk with Dr. Pedro Bernardinelli about his historic discovery!
Upcoming guests on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion
This summer is BURNING HOT with amazing guests!
June 29 (s4/e26): Alyssa Mills, Graduate intern at JPL, talks about the largest moon in the Solar System, Ganymede.
PLUS - ~just announced~ Learning about the newly found mega-comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein with discoverer Dr. Pedro Bernardinelli!
July 6 (s5/e1): SEASON FIVE PREMERE! New York Times bestselling author Earl Swift, author of Across the Airless Wilds, the first major history of NASA’s lunar buggy.
July 13 (s5/e2): Dr. Stella Kafka, CEO of The American Association of Variable Star Observers, returns to the show, talking about Betelgeuse.
July 20 (s5/e3): Geoff Notkin, host of Meteorite Men on the Science Channel and president of the National Space Society, talks meteorites.
July 27 (s5/e4): ~just announced~ CHIME member Kaitlyn Shin, MIT grad student, explains fast radio bursts (FRBs)
August 3 (s5/e5): Teaching science to children with Dr. Stephanie Ryan, author of “Let’s Learn Chemistry.”
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- James