Hubble has discovered the largest comet to date

An international team of scientists has just confirmed the discovery of the largest comet to date. baptized as C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein for friends) was noticed by accident in 2010when Pedro Bernardinelli and Gary Bernstein they studied images from the archive Dark energy research at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. They suspected they had encountered something larger, so they decided to analyze it in more detail using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA). He pointed out that its nucleus was about 130 kilometers wide, a third larger than that of the largest comet up to that time, but more precise observations needed to be made with a space telescope. Hubble to make sure it’s really worthy of being recorded.

But this does not mean that this is the largest comet in existence, far from it. In fact, as those responsible for the discovery explained in a NASA statement, this should be just the tip of the iceberg. There must be many other large comets that have not been seen because they are too far from the detection limit of our telescopes. Now that we have more and more powerful tools (hoot James Webb), a lot more may start to appear.

But step by step. They are currently responsible for characterizing comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein using Hubble and discovered some very interesting things about him.

Journey to the sun of the largest comet ever discovered

The comet’s journey began at Oort cloud, a region located at the edge of the solar system from which many other comets actually originate. From there he went to the sun with speed 35,400 kilometers per hour. Although, according to the calculations of his trajectory, he will not approach him closer than 10.9 a.u.. This rapprochement will occur in 2031 and there is nothing to fear. After all, the astronomical unit (AU) is equivalent to the distance between the Earth and the Sun, so we’re talking about being very far from the royal star.

Precisely because of its remoteness from our planet, its initial detection would have been difficult if there were no appropriate tools. In fact, if it was initially suspected that it could be a very large comet, it is because very intense shine despite its remoteness. So it was. Hubble’s latest measurements have shown that its core is around 50 times more than most known comets. In addition, its mass is 500 billion tons. That is, it weighs a hundred thousand times more than a typical comet, much closer to the Sun. But how did they get this data? The truth is that, given its remoteness, it was not at all easy.

Computer models will make it easier for Hubble

The biggest difficulty in measuring this comet was that it is currently too far away for its nucleus to be visually distinguishable. Hubble. He only found very bright peak light where should the core be.

But yes, I could catch there is comets. This is cloud of dust and gas what surrounds him. So they made a computer model of the comma and they fixed it to match the Hubble images. Later, according to a NASA statement, the brightness of the coma was subtracted to leave naked core.

The result confirms what was already suspected at the time with ALMA. The only big difference is what the kernel looks like darker than expected, but with your suspicions about the size, there is no doubt. It is the largest comet that has been discovered so far. let’s see how long it lasts at the top of the rankings.

And the fact is that the discovery of this comet is “an invaluable clue to the distribution of comets in size in Oort cloud and hence its total mass. There must be many more like him, and it’s exciting as it continues to prove that what astronomers only assumed seems to be true. With Jan Oort first raised the question of the existence of this cloud in 1950, there was only a suspicion that he was right. However, it was impossible to prove this, as its inhabitants would be too weak and distant to be found. already reached hunt alone and all this is a colossus. Will there be more?