Latest news with #comet
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists Intrigued by Comet With Jets Blasting From Its Interior
Astronomers have detected a gigantic comet — possibly the largest ever discovered — and it's spewing gases from its nucleus as it shoots through our cosmic neighborhood. Comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) is 85 miles in diameter, far bigger than the six-mile asteroid that ended the age of the dinosaurs, according to a new study in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. But thankfully, it's pretty far away — in the vicinity of Neptune, specifically — so astronomers can admire the spectacle from a safe distance. "These measurements give us a look at how this enormous, icy world works," said Nathan Roth, lead author and NASA research associate, said in a statement. "We're seeing explosive outgassing patterns that raise new questions about how this comet will evolve as it continues its journey toward the inner solar system." In addition to the comet's extraordinary size, its jets of carbon monoxide are the first ever observed on a comet. The comet came from the mysterious Oort Cloud, which surrounds our entire Solar System and harbors more icy denizens. To astronomers, comets are particularly intriguing because they carry tantalizing clues about the past of the universe and our solar system. Comets are dirty snowballs made up of ice, dust, debris, and often come from the Kuiper Belt, an area beyond Neptune that contains Pluto and other icy space objects, as well as the Oort Cloud. A special feature of comets is that they hold organic matter and likely bombarded our planet during its early years with essential molecules that eventually gave rise to life on Earth. That's another reason this finding is huge: the fact that scientists were able to detect matter spewing out of the comet is notable, and as it gets closer to the Sun, parts of the comet may melt away, revealing more of its tantalizing internal makeup. More on comets: Earth Surrounded by Dark Comets, Astronomers Claim
Forbes
21 hours ago
- Science
- Forbes
A Comet 85 Miles Wide Is Erupting In The Solar System — What To Know
The largest comet ever found has jets of carbon monoxide gas erupting from its 85-mile (140-kilometer) wide nucleus. Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein (C/2014 UN271) was studied while it was more than halfway to Neptune using a radio telescope array in Chile's Atacama desert. It will enter the inner solar system in 2031, but it won't come as close to the sun as Earth. An artist rendition of comet C/2014 UN271, the largest known comet in the Oort Cloud. NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/ Using the powerful Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array radio telescope in Chile, researchers observed comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein while it was more than halfway to Neptune, at a distance of 16.6 times the distance between the sun and Earth. In a major milestone in the study of distant solar system objects, observations by astronomers in March 2024 uncovered molecular activity in the comet in the form of jets of carbon monoxide gas erupting from its nucleus. It's the first detection of carbon monoxide outgassing in a comet at such a great distance. Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein is more than 10 times the size of most known comets, so large that it's classified as a 'minor planet.' It's thought to orbit the sun only once every 600,000 years, with its next closest approach in 2031. The comet was discovered by astronomers Dr. Pedro Bernardinelli and Gary Bernstein on June 19, 2021, using archival data from the Dark Energy Survey. Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein is doing something unexpected. A comet's nucleus is a solid core of rock and ice. When a comet gets close to the sun, its nucleus heats up, and the ice vaporizes to form its glowing coma (head) and tail. The new observations, in a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters , reveal complex and evolving jets of carbon monoxide gas erupting from the comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein's nucleus. The jets were seen on the sun-facing side of the comet, suggesting that carbon dioxide — not ice — is the volatile compound when a comet is so far from the sun. It's the first direct evidence of what drives a comet's activity when it's so cold and distant. This sequence from the Hubble Space Telescope in 2022 shows how the nucleus of Comet C/2014 UN271 ... More (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) was isolated from a vast shell of dust and gas surrounding the solid icy nucleus. SCIENCE: NASA, ESA, Man-To Hui (Macau University of Science and Technology), David Jewitt (UCLA) IMAGE PROCESSING: Alyssa Pagan (STScI) 'These measurements give us a look at how this enormous, icy world works,' said lead author Nathan Roth of American University and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. 'We're seeing explosive outgassing patterns that raise new questions about how this comet will evolve as it continues its journey toward the inner solar system.' Outgassing — the release of frozen gases — is expected to continue, with astronomers expecting to see jets of other frozen gases, notably methane and formaldehyde, as comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein gets closer to the sun over the next few years. This diagram compares the size of the icy, solid nucleus of comet C/2014 UN271 ... More (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) to several other comets. NASA, ESA, Zena Levy Largest Comet Ever Found Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein is the largest comet ever observed from the Oort Cloud, which NASA describes as being like a big, thick bubble around the solar system. The Oort Cloud lies far beyond Pluto and is home to millions of comets. However, it's not quite the largest comet ever found. That title goes to comet Sarabat (C/1729), the so-called 'Great Comet of 1729,' which was visible to the naked eye. Forbes Don't Miss This Weekend's Sky Show — The Moon, Venus And A Star Cluster By Jamie Carter Forbes Iceland Unveils Festival For First Total Solar Eclipse Since 1954 By Jamie Carter Forbes Get Ready For The Shortest Day Since Records Began As Earth Spins Faster By Jamie Carter
CNET
a day ago
- Science
- CNET
Look Up Friday Night, You Just Might See the Bootids Meteor Shower
Earth gets pelted by meteors all the time, but only a few showers are large enough to warrant names. Bootids is one such meteor shower that generally occurs in June every year as the Earth moves through the tail of the 7)/Pons-Winnecke comet. For 2025, the best night to catch a potential glimpse of Bootids is this Friday, June 27. It's not an easy meteor shower to spot. Its radiant — the point in the sky from which the meteor shower appears to originate — is in the constellation Boötes, hence the shower's name, which itself means herdsman or ox-driver in ancient Greek. Per Stellarium's sky map, Boötes will be in the western sky close to the horizon all Friday evening before dipping below the horizon at sunset. This applies to the entire continental US, so there aren't any special instructions based on location. The reason viewers will need a little luck to see it is twofold. For starters, the constellation is pretty low on the horizon, which will make it much harder for anyone to see anything if they're in a well-lit city or suburb. Secondly, The American Meteor Association classifies Bootids as a Class III meteor shower. That means it may light up the sky with plenty of meteors or average less than one per day, even at its peak. We won't know how strong this year's Bootids will be until Saturday after the peak has passed. Despite its finicky nature, the shower did produce an incident here on Earth. Early Friday, a meteor entered Earth's atmosphere and mostly burned up, but did leave a golf ball-sized hole in a Georgia family's home. Observers reported seeing the meteor as far away as Tennessee, Florida, and North Carolina. Here's an excellent video showing the Georgia meteor that looks like something out of War of the Worlds. With Bootids at its peak, there is an increased risk of such an event occurring again. Tips for watching the Bootids meteor shower Much like real estate, it's all about location, location, location. City dwellers and suburbanites will have the hardest time seeing a shooting star since the light pollution of larger populated areas can get in the way of seeing dimmer meteors. For context, the Perseids meteor shower can spit out upwards of 100 meteors per hour, but in the city, you may see one to two per hour, if any at all. The best tip is getting out of the city as far as you're willing to go. The further out you go, the less light pollution will hinder your progress and the more meteors that will be visible. If you can swing it, take a pair of binoculars as well. Telescopes won't be necessary as they will restrict your view of the open sky too much, which may cause you to miss meteors. Other than that, the key is patience. With inconsistent showers like Bootids, it may be a consistent shower all night or bursts of activity. Finally, it's best to temper expectations. You may go home not seeing anything at all, especially if the weather is not on your side.
Fox News
3 days ago
- Science
- Fox News
Astronomers make groundbreaking discovery about largest comet ever observed flying through deep space
A groundbreaking discovery was recently made about the largest comet ever observed hurtling toward the sun from the Oort Cloud in the outer reaches of our solar system. Astronomers recently got a close-up look at the comet, known as C/2014 UN271, flying through deep space with the powerful Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope in Chile. The icy giant is 85 miles across and is more than 10 times the size of any known comet, according to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The NRAO reported that astronomers found that new observations from the comet showed jets of carbon monoxide gas erupting out from the comet's solid icy core. Using the ALMA, the researchers found the comet in deep space near Neptune or about 17 times the distance between the Sun and Earth, according to a release from NRAO. Using the ALMA telescope's high sensitivity and resolution, the researchers were able to focus on the carbon monoxide and heat being emitted from the comet. Nathan Roth of American University and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the lead author of the study, which was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, discussed how this gives researchers insight into the workings of this frozen rock hurtling through space. "These measurements give us a look at how this enormous, icy world works," Roth said. "We're seeing explosive outgassing patterns that raise new questions about how this comet will evolve as it continues its journey toward the inner solar system." Using previous ALMA observations and these newest findings, researchers were able to measure the comet. They measured the thermal signal to find the comet's size and amount of dust surrounding its core. Researchers believe that as C/2014 UN271 gets closer to the sun, they will see more frozen gas begin to vaporize off the titan of a comet. This could possibly give researchers more information about the primitive makeup of this icy giant. The researchers also hope that this will give a better understanding of the makeup of the solar system.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers discover the largest comet from the outskirts of the solar system is exploding with jets of gas
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Astronomers have discovered that the largest comet from the Oort Cloud, a shell of icy bodies at the very edge of the solar system, is bursting with chemical the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile, the team discovered that C/2014 UN271, an 85-mile-wide (137 km) body around 10 times the size of the average comet and also known as Bernardinelli-Bernstein, is erupting with complex and evolving jets of carbon monoxide gas. Now located halfway between the sun and the solar system's furthest planet, Neptune (or 16.6 times the distance between the Earth and our star), C/2014 UN271 becomes the second-most distant comet originating from the Oort Cloud that has been seen to be chemically active. The observations are also the first direct evidence of what drives cometary activity when these icy bodies are far from the sun. "These measurements give us a look at how this enormous, icy world works," team leader and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center researcher Nathan Roth said in a statement. "We're seeing explosive outgassing patterns that raise new questions about how this comet will evolve as it continues its journey toward the inner solar system." ALMA was able to observe C/2014 UN271 despite its distance from the sun via the carbon monoxide in its atmosphere and its thermal emissions. Previously, the sensitivity of this ground-breaking instrument, composed of an array of 66 radio antennas located in the Atacama Desert region of northern Chile, allowed scientists to determine the size of the core or "nucleus" of the comet. Building upon this, the team was able to precisely determine the comet's entire size and the amount of dust that envelopes its core or "nucleus." This confirmed the status of C/2014 UN271 as the largest Oort Cloud comet ever to the clearer picture painted of this giant comet by ALMA was the first detection of molecular outgassing for C/2014 UN271. This has afforded scientists a rare look at the chemistry of icy bodies from the very edge of the solar system. Related Stories: — The sun is a 'runaway world collector' that can trap passing rogue planets — The solar system is teeming with 1 million 'alien invaders' from Alpha Centauri — Watch asteroid 2024 YR4 zoom harmlessly through space after risk of hitting Earth falls to near zero (video) C/2014 UN271 is approaching the sun, and as it does, the comet will begin to heat up, and more frozen material within it will turn gaseous and erupt from its icy comets are thought to be composed of unspoiled material left over from the formation of the solar system around 4.6 billion years ago, this could offer a glimpse at the conditions in which Earth and the other planets were team's research was published on June 12 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
