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- Ελληνικά
European astronomers have officially confirmed initial estimates that Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein (2014 UN271) is the largest ever observed from Earth, thus stealing the scepter of larger size from Comet Hale-Bopp. The former is about 137 kilometres in diameter, while the latter is 74 kilometres.
Researchers from the Paris Observatory and the Andalusian Institute of Astrophysics in Spain, led by astronomer Emmanuel Lelouss, have made the pre-publication in arXiv, followed by a full publication in the astronomy and astrophysics journal Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters.
The Bernardinelli-Bernstein comet was discovered by cosmologist Gary Bernstein of the University of Pennsylvania and his postdoctoral research associate Pedro Bernardinelli of the University of Washington. It was originally visible in 2014 and is thought to have originated in the icy Oort Cloud in the inner reaches of the solar system.
As the comet got somewhat closer to our planet, scientists made new observations with the ALMA telescope in Chile's Atacama Desert. The comet is tracing a huge orbit around the Sun, which takes 5.5 million years[/B] to complete. As the comet approaches the Sun, it will vaporize under the star's tremendous heat and lose mass, causing its core to melt and shrink and its tail of gas and dust to grow.
It is estimated that by the time it begins its return journey to Oort, it will be about half its size. It is expected to get closer to Earth in 2031, but will remain a safe distance beyond Saturn's orbit.
Comet Hale-Bopp was discovered in 1995 and was visible to the naked eye in 1996, something that will never happen with Bernadinelli-Bernstein.
Source: APE-MPA
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