The 'megacomet' Bernardinelli-Bernstein is the find of a decade. Here's the discovery explained.

space.com ^ | September 7, 2021 | Meghan Bartels

[BenLurkin]

Scientists briefly estimated that Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein, as it's now known, was the largest such icy body identified to date, perhaps more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) across. Additional observations have cast that into doubt, but given the "megacomet" a new distinction: it sprouted a tail remarkably far from the sun, suggesting more revelations to come. All told, the object offers astronomers an unprecedented opportunity to watch the antics of a comet.

Although what initially stood out to Bernardinelli was the comet's weird orbital characteristics, the discovery made such a splash because of a different trait, the comet's estimated size. Based on the object's brightness and distance, the scientists initially estimated that the comet's nucleus — the icy rock at its core — was 60 to 120 miles (100 to 200 kilometers) wide.

But as far as comets go, that size estimate is truly massive. Among the comets scientists have studied in detail, only two are in the same class: Comet Hale-Bopp, which made a close approach to Earth in 1997, and Comet C/2002 VQ94 (LINEAR), which came no deeper into the solar system than Jupiter's orbit.

Calculating the size of an active comet is much more complicated than measuring a bare nucleus, it turns out, so Kokotanekova said she couldn't offer a new size estimate for the comet, beyond that it would be somewhat smaller than the original calculations.

Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein remains a stunner....for the very same activity that invalidated the original size estimate. Scientists have only spotted a handful of comets active so far from the sun, where temperatures are still too cold for, say, water ice to turn to vapor, a typical type of cometary activity.

[BenLurkin]

ping

[Jeff Chandler]

Bernardinelli-Bernstein; wasn’t she the girl who married EVH?

[adorno]

Scientists have only spotted a handful of comets active so far from the sun, where temperatures are still too cold for, say, water ice to turn to vapor, a typical type of cometary activity.

That's because it's not a comet.

It's an inter-galactic vessel, with an exhaust system which emulates water vapor tails of comets.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin.

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Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein... sprouted a tail remarkably far from the sun... Although what initially stood out to Bernardinelli was the comet's weird orbital characteristics, the discovery made such a splash because of a different trait, the comet's estimated size. Based on the object's brightness and distance, the scientists initially estimated that the comet's nucleus — the icy rock at its core — was 60 to 120 miles (100 to 200 kilometers) wide. But as far as comets go, that size estimate is truly massive. Among the comets scientists have studied in detail, only two are in the same class: Comet Hale-Bopp, which made a close approach to Earth in 1997, and Comet C/2002 VQ94 (LINEAR), which came no deeper into the solar system than Jupiter's orbit.

[BenLurkin]

The tail would have to be towards the sun if they wanted to decelerate.

[gw-ington]

Bernardinelli-Bernstein; wasn’t she the girl who married EVH?

Yep! I never knew the actress was also a world-class astrophysicist.

[SunkenCiv]

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The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes: Flood, Fire, and Famine in the History of Civilization by Richard Firestone, Allen West, and Simon Warwick-Smith

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[alexander_busek]

Looking in vain for a revelatory sentence to the effect of:

"Scientists claim that it will be the 'Comet of the Century,' far outshining even Venus, and with a tail spanning a quarter of the nighttime sky. Yes, viewers in the Northern Hemisphere will be treated to a really spectacular astronomical show..."

or

"Scientists point out that, due to its orbital characteristics, the comet - though extremely large - will be positioned behind the Sun (from Earth's perspective) when it reaches perihelion. At best, some observers in the Southern Hemisphere using good field glasses might be able to make it out as a dim, fuzzy object before it is engulfed by the glare of the Sun."

Regards,

[Reno89519]

NOT UNTIL 2031. What a waste of time and disappointment, especially since you have to read or skim all the way to the end of the useless article to find out WHEN it will be approaching the Sun.

[EEGator]

She’s a Claymonster!

[Red Badger]

Comet B-B.......................

[Nateman]

Closest approach is 2031. It will still be beyond the orbit of Saturn. Not enough time to send out a probe to meet it.

[PIF]

In case any one was wondering :

“When the survey was operating, however, the comet was already closer - only 25 AU from the sun by 2017. (According to the orbital calculations, the closest Bernardinelli-Bernstein will come to the sun is about 11 AU - still more distant than Saturn’s orbit - in 2031.)”

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OT :
Sept. 15: SpaceX will use a Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft to launch the first all-civilian orbital mission, known as Inspiration4. It will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Oct. 16: NASA will launch its Lucy mission to study the Trojan asteroids. It will lift off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

Oct. 31: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft on the Crew-3 mission, the third operational astronaut flight to the International Space Station. On board will be NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Thomas Marshburn, and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer. (The fourth crewmember has not yet been announced). It will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Nov. 17: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Nov. 24: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, at 1:58 a.m. EST (0658 GMT).

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to lift off in late November from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 5 ECA rocket.

Dec. 4: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch a Dragon cargo resupply mission (CRS-24) to the International Space Station. It will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

[Empire_of_Liberty]

“The tail would have to be towards the sun if they wanted to decelerate.‘

“Don’t tell me how to drive!” ;)

[Seruzawa]

Yes, but the clickbait headline did its work. That’s all that matters.

[Reno89519]

Waste of time, and worse, you subjected us to clickbait. Bad move.

[SunkenCiv]

That’s a big BB...

[Berosus]

If Dr. Velikovsky was alive, I don’t think he would be impressed.

[adorno]

The tail would have to be towards the sun if they wanted to decelerate.

Not if the vessel is still far away, and perhaps the occupiers of the vessel know how to decelerate when it's close to the sun, and perhaps they're just curious and want to perform a fly-by.