Two comets with the same orbit will pass by Earth this week and give scientists the chance to study possible twin comets. On the other hand, the second one, P/2016 BA14, will fly closer to the earth, around 2.2 million miles, the following day.
Advertisement
NASA and its grandly named Planetary Defense Office are being super chill about the comets, even though one is passing closer to Earth than all but two comets in recorded history.
“Comet P/2016 BA14 is not a threat”, clarified Paul Chodas, manager of NASA’s centre of Near Earth Object (NEO) Studies.
As P/2016 BA14 blasts from Canis Major to Ursa Major over the course of seven nights, viewers on Earth are surely in for a treat. The comet was first spotted this year by the PanSTARRS 1 telescope, and bore striking similarities to the comet 252P/LINEAR, which was discovered in 2000 and expected to approach Earth on a similar path this month. In 1993, when comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was discovered, its pieces were linked by astronomers to a flyby of Jupiter. The time of closest approach for P/2016 BA14 on March 22 will be around 7:30 am PDT. A large, professional grade telescope will be required due to the comets small size. Comet P/2016 BA14 will make its closest approach at around 11.30am EDT on March 22 (2.30am AEST on March 23), so you should have the chance to see the comets zip through the night sky from the comfort of your own home.
Astronomers are breaking out the telescopes, metaphoric measuring tapes, and record books for a close visit from two comets next week. Amazingly enough, not only the comets will be the closest to Earth’s orbit in over 250 years, but also comes in two separate comets.
On Tuesday, Comet P/2016 BA14 will safely fly by our planet at a distance of about 2.2 million miles away.
The only comet known to have flown closer to the Earth than BA14 is Lexell’s Comet, which made a close pass in 1770.
The first comet, 252P/LINEAR, will travel past Earth on March 21 at a distance of 3.3 million miles, which is very close on a planetary scale. At that distance, it will be much farther away than the moon, but will come closer than most any other comet has ever had. It may even be visible to the unaided eye in southern hemisphere suburbs where light pollution is low.
On of the two comets will be emerald-green in hue.
Scientists will view the visitors using the Hubble Space Telescope and several of the world’s most powerful ground-based telescopes, including the two 26.9-foot (8.19-meter) belonging to the Gemini Observatory, located in Hawaii and Chile. According to Kelley, comets are nothing but the frozen leftovers of the early solar system.
That means the smaller one, may be a fragment that broke off the bigger one.
Advertisement
Bob King, amateur astronomer, said stargazers looking at 252P through a telescope will be able to witness the movement of the comet. “It really is a thrill”, he said.
