Comet C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS), also known as K2, on its first journey into the Solar System.
The comet was observed halfway between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus
(Pluto is the furthest orbit visible in the image).
Credit: A. Field/NASA/ESA/STScl
Posted on 09/30/2017 4:26:24 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The Hubble Space Telescope captured a view of Comet C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS), called K2 for short, as it came in from out beyond Saturn's orbit, 1.5 billion miles from the sun. As it approaches the sun and the temperature rises from minus 440 degrees Fahrenheit, the comet is developing a fluffy cloud of dust, called a coma, which surrounds its frozen body. While the comet's nucleus appears to be just 12 miles across, the coma stretches 10 times Earth's diameter.
According to a statement from NASA, K2 likely began its journey in the spherical Oort Cloud surrounding the solar system, which hosts hundreds of billions of comets and stretches almost a light-year across. Because it's the comet's first trip into the solar system, its composition could reflect conditions in the early system, before planets formed.
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Researchers first spotted K2 in May 2017 with data from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS). The new Hubble view let Jewitt's team measure the size of K2's nucleus and confirm that it hasn't yet developed a comet's signature tail.
They also spotted K2 in earlier images, gathered in 2013 by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) in Hawaii; at the time, nobody had noticed the incredibly faint object, according to the statement, but Jewitt's team was able to identify the comet and its growing coma of material.
"We think the comet has been continuously active for at least four years," Jewitt said. "In the CFHT data, K2 had a coma already at 2 billion miles from the sun, when it was between the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. It was already active, and I think it has been continuously active coming in."
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
We are all going to die, AGAIN!!!
If it starts slowing down we need to worry.
How do they know that?
My question also.
The video report ends with a statement that the comet’s trajectory has been tracked and is projected to take it out of the solar system completely.
Maybe that’s what leads them to the conclusion that it hasn’t been here before.
Yup.
Chelsea must be so proud of her real dad for accomplishing this.
DUCK!
I dug a little deeper. It’s in a hyperbolic orbit or It’s going fast enough not to be stuck in orbit around the sun. The second reason is that gases like oxygen are evaporating from the surface. Since its going nearly to Mars orbit that stuff would be long gone if it had came by before.
Now selling tickets to ride on the Oort Cloud Express...
Ha! Applewhite could have sold many tickets.
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