The comet was first discovered in 2014 and is thought to be a dwarf planet, of which there are many at the far end of the solar system. But on June 23, 2021, the comet got its proper name.
It is therefore called comet C / 2014 UN271, or Bernardinelli-Bernstein, after its discoverers. It was astronomer Gary Bernstein and doctoral student Pedro Bernardinelli at the University of Pennsylvania.
The comet is from 100 to 200 kilometers long, and is thus 10 times larger than what comets usually are.
It is also very long-distance, with an extremely long orbit that takes it past the sun only every 3 million years.
From the Oort cloud around the solar system
The giant comet comes from the Oort cloud, a huge cloud of smaller celestial bodies consisting of ice and dust, which lies outside our solar system and surrounds it.
The Oort cloud is far beyond Pluto’s orbit and the Kuiper belt of smaller celestial bodies. But the objects in the Oort cloud are still affected by the thin force of the sun, the outermost planets in the solar system, and comets and asteroids here.
Many asteroids and comets come from here.
Illustration: NASA
The objects in the Oort cloud are remnants of the time when the sun and the planets were created. Here there can be many more undiscovered giant comets with extremely long orbits.
The giant comet is heading inwards towards the sun and will be closest in 2031.
Thus, the researchers get to see how the giant comet changes when it gets closer to sun and heat.
The investigations of the new giant comet can teach us more about how such massive objects were formed and evolved, and how the outermost planets in the solar system changed orbits earlier in the solar system’s history.
So big that it can wipe out all life
Comets and asteroids of more than 100 kilometers are so large that they can wipe out all life on earth should they hit us.
Fortunately, this giant comet does not come within the orbit of Saturn, which is about 11 times the distance between the earth and the sun.
The objects in the Oort cloud are remnants of the time when the sun and the planets were created. Here there can be many more undiscovered giant comets with extremely long orbits.
The giant comet is heading inwards towards the sun and will be closest in 2031.
Thus, the researchers get to see how the giant comet changes when it gets closer to sun and heat.
The investigations of the new giant comet can teach us more about how such massive objects were formed and evolved, and how the outermost planets in the solar system changed orbits earlier in the solar system’s history.
So big that it can wipe out all life
Comets and asteroids of more than 100 kilometers are so large that they can wipe out all life on earth should they hit us.
Fortunately, this giant comet does not come within the orbit of Saturn, which is about 11 times the distance between the earth and the sun.