Huge twin comet rushing at high speed toward the Earth – Ghhauto: Russian top stories

21.03.2016 02:03

Very soon, as early as next Monday, for the shortest possible distance from the Earth’s orbit will fly by the comet-2 twins. Galactic travelers will approach to a distance of 3.5 kilometers and 5.2 million, respectively.

past Earth, according to the US space agency, fly 2 huge celestial body – 252P / LINEAR and p / 2016 BA14. The first object of the closest approach to the Earth in 15.14 MSK March 21, 2016 g, and the second – at 17.30 MSK on March 22

Comets cause great interest, primarily due to the fact that one of them was. scientists discovered quite recently – January 22, 2016 This is the P / 2016 BA14, which is noticed by a PanSTARRS telescope located on the island of Maui (Hawaii). Initially, the space object has been identified as an asteroid, but soon scientists were able to detect the faint tail, indicating that its vessels to comets. scientists have identified soon, that the orbit of the new comet is almost identical to the detected more April 7, 2000 the comet 252P / LINEAR.

Let’s remind, the average distance between the Earth and its natural satellite is 384 thousand kilometers, so from the nearest of the comets at closest approach of the third planet will separate the 9 distances “Earth – the Moon,” and by her companion -. 13.5 distances

In addition, they are very similar and move in almost identical trajectories. Specialists make the assumption that earlier it was one celestial body that for some unknown reasons, split into 2 parts.

As the head of the Center for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA research Paul Chodas, pribzhayuschiesya space objects may have a common origin. Proof of this is remarkably similar orbits of both comets. Perhaps P/2016 BA14, the linear dimensions of which half of his companion, a recent split from 252P/LINEAR, and before they both were a single entity.

Indeed, comets are very fragile objects, and most likely, that the destruction occurred during the last flight of the comet on the inner part of the solar system.

it is noteworthy that this is the third case of comets flown in such close proximity to our planet in the history of civilization.

The astronomers say that the flight path does not affect the planet and is completely safe for humans. The only consequence may be a small meteor showers in some parts of the world.

Recall that the long-period comet fly into the inner solar system from the Oort cloud, which is a huge number of cometary nuclei. Body, located on the outskirts of the solar system, as a rule, consist of volatile substances that evaporate when approaching the sun.

At the moment, found more than 400 short-period comets. Of these, about 200 were observed in more than one perihelion passage. Many of them are so-called family. For example, many of the most short-period comets (of a complete revolution around the sun lasts 3-10 years) are a family of Jupiter. Few fewest Saturn family, Uranus and Neptune (the latter, in particular, to the famous Halley’s comet).

The comets coming from the depths of space, looks like a hazy objects, followed by a trail, sometimes reaching a length of several million kilometers. The nucleus of a comet is a body of solid particles, shrouded in hazy shell, called the coma. The core of a few kilometers in diameter may be around him who in 80 th. km in diameter. Streams of sunlight knock gas particles from the coma and throw them back, pulling a long smoky tail, which moves her into space.

Brightness to a large extent depends on their distance from the sun. Of the total number of known comets only a very small part of the Sun and is approaching Earth at a distance, so they can be seen with the naked eye. The most notable of these is sometimes called “the big (great) comet».

Many of us observed meteors ( “shooting stars”) have a cometary origin. It lost comet particles, which burn when hit in the planet’s atmosphere.

People have always shown a special interest in comets. Their unusual appearance and a surprise appearance were for many centuries a source of all kinds of superstitions. The ancients attributed the appearance in the sky of celestial bodies with a luminous tail of the forthcoming troubles and the onset of hard times.

Recall that recently French scientists studied the chemical composition of the ice on the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, came to the conclusion that the ancient ” cosmic wanderer “is the same age as the solar system. This amazing comet, which for the first time in the history of humanity was planted module Philae the Rosetta space probe, was born about 4.6 billion years ago.