To start I am going to highlight the largest known comet ever to enter the solar system in my lifetime. This comet was picked up by Pedro H Bernardanelli and Gary M Bernstein in the summer of 2021. The comet was discovered while scouring data from the dark energy survey
Comets are named after their discoverer in this case it is called Comet Bernardinelli–Bernstein.
Here is Anton Petrov explaining the discovery. Youtube
And here below from SciTechDaily is a video zooming in on the comet which is currently located inside the orbit of Neptune. The comet is the most distant comet ever located and photographed.
It is estimated that the size is around 120 kilometers meters across.
Just to get your head around sizes of bodies in space. The meteorite impact that wiped out 75% of life on planet earth and wiped out the dinosaurs was estimated to be around 7 kilometers wide. So 14 - 28 times as big. Comet Hale-Bopp which famously crashed into Jupiter was 40 - 60 km.
These estimates are constantly under review so as I hear more I will update this page.
As the comet is not visible to the naked eye or to amateur astronomical community due to its lack of luminosity. Though it will be visible to backyard astronomers in 2031 when it makes its closest approach to earth. It should be similar in size to Saturn's moon Titan. Information regarding this object is very thin. But am sure will be expanded upon in the coming years. It is said to be venting Carbon Monoxide gas already. That means it has a tail.
The trajectory of the comet is unusual in that it is not tracking along the plane of the solar system but from below. The trajectory is entering the solar system below the ecliptic currently at -54 degrees declination. It's closest approach will be towards Saturn's orbit before leaving the solar system. The date of closest approach has been currently calculated to be around the 24th of January 2031 (Perehelion).
It has been estimated that the comets previous visit to the solar system was just over 3 million years ago. Which is around when one of our common ancestors Lucy, roamed the planet.
A team of researchers at the Paris observatory has used the Atacama Large Millimeter array in Chile using the colour reflected by the comet to peer beyond the dust cloud to estimate the size of the comet to be approximately 137 kilometers across.
Here is a link to Nasa's eyes on asteroids website. Showing all the asteroids so far spotted close to earth. It includes asteroid Apophis whose current estimated closest approach is 38,008 kilometers from earth. Is around the 13th of April 2029. The size of Apophis is 340 meters. It has estimated that this will be visible to the naked eye at this time.
The James Webb Telescope
Of particular note this week is the alignment of the James Webb Telescope mirrors.
Single parent father rather than being helped and supported is being stigmatized by those who are supposedly there to help. Not good. I will always stand up against the stigmatisation of others in all it's forms. I hope you do too.
I realise this blog is no longer just read by me now. I also know the posts are quite personal in tone, I apologise up to a point but one of things I deal with on a regular basis is the isolation. This blog was set up in order to help with that. Putting thoughts out there in printed form means I can edit and rephrase as I go. Others may think these posts a waste of time. I for one do not. The reason is I can reflect, change, adapt posts as I see fit. Hope to educate those who do not understand and maybe help articulate better in time.
This blog began as a cathartic exercise. To allow me to express myself in a way that I had not done before. Always the quiet one in the corner. Much preferring quiet discussions than backslapping revelry. We find human failure such a shock sometimes. However it happens all the time. We set people up for failure within our educational system. Things may have changed since my time. In my time they tried to create automotons out of an animal that wants to laugh and play. Perhaps they still do this from where you are. The system put questions before you that very seldom crossed your mind. Do the answers progress your understanding of the world and universe around you? Did the answers make you a better more wealthy person? The world is a beautifull place and people in it are on the most part wholesome and kind. Others are in such a rush to go there and go back that they have no time for people and discourse. Others are so comprimised by circumstance that they struggle to escape the tra...
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