From what it is to how it'll affect us, and whether Earth honestly has anything to worry
about, and more! Join us as we reveal to how a Mega Comet Is Approaching From Oort Cloud!
So let's get right to it, shall we? What exactly is going on, and why should we as humans care?
A huge comet so large it’s classified as a “minor planet” has been spotted
beyond Uranus coming into the inner Solar System for a once-in 600,000-years visit.
It's known as the Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein, and it's got a lot of people talking about it
because of how close it's believed to get by the end of it "run".
When is the of its run? Well, that's honestly one piece of good news. Despite it being half
a light year away...it still won't reach the endpoint of its run until 2031. Yes, we have
a decade to watch this thing coming. Which is good for various reasons, not the least of which
is that its "trajectory" is something that is changing a lot of people's perceptions about it.
It was first discovered about 29 astronomical units (AU) away from the Sun in our Solar System.
For context, Earth is one AU from the Sun and Neptune is 30 AU.
Hence Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein’s initial classification as a trans-Neptunian Object (TNO),
which is defined as a minor planet or dwarf planet in the Solar System that orbits the Sun
at a greater average distance than Neptune. According to the latest observations from Las
Cumbres Observatory-Sutherland in South Africa, it’s now about 20 AU from the Sun, which is
outside the orbit of Saturn. And that means it's moving...and might be just moving towards us.
Which is a problem because apparently, though not confirmed, the comet is said to be about 62
miles in diameter. Which is MORE than enough to wipe out the planet should it hit us.
Keyword here being "should". Because on its current path it's not projected to hit the Earth.
So where is it going? To put it simply, it's going on the path it's always been on. Comets like
these, one of which you know via Haley's comet, are known to have what are called "long orbits".
They take their sweet time going around in an orbit around the sun. While the origins of this
one is unknown, based on its speed and the orbit path, some scientists state that it's path takes
600,000 years to do! That's a LONG orbit. Like all comets, this one will round the Sun
and head off back to where it came from, but the closest it will get to the Sun will be 10.5 AU.
And while it may come close-ish to Earth, we're again not in any danger of it hitting.
The comet is believed to come from the Oort Cloud that exists in our solar system, which is of
course a major location that is said to house many other comets and similarly important items. And
we don't say that lightly because it's one of the most mysterious parts of our universe. The
fact that the Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein’s path was a mystery to us until now more or left proves
once more that we honestly don't know as much about our own "backyard" in space like we think.
Now, ironically, despite the Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein not coming
close enough to Earth (most agree that it won't get beyond the orbit of Jupiter)
there are indeed plans to try and actually go to it and perhaps get a sample of it.
The reasoning behind this? Well first off, it's a special ice entity from a spot in space that we
can't reach outside of probes like the Voyagers and thus can't examine willy-nilly. Second,
if we can get a chunk of it for research we have the potential to go and examine it
and then determine what else might be out there in the Oort Cloud. It also can help
us determine the true origins of the comet and certain other things about space as a whole.
The problem? As you might have guessed, getting something to the area of Saturn...isn't
that easy...even prep time. So in this case, the team that is honestly seeing
whether they can do this would go and make the launch of the probe or satellite
or entity that they're going to send at this comet...in 2029. Yes, a full two YEARS before
the comet reaches its "apex" of the journey in terms of how close it'll get to Earth.
Saturn, as noted earlier, is quite a bit a ways from Earth, and even if we advance things like
rocket propulsion by 2029, it's still going to be quite a distance to go. Not to mention they'd have
to land on it safely (not an easy feat), then get a sample (probably the easiest part of the job)
and then get back safely to Earth with the sample in tact! Another not so easy feat.
So then teh question becomes, do we try and wait for another comet like this to come closer to
Earth? That might honestly be the path towards getting an easier sample, and if you look at the
history of comets in recent times, you're going to see that some rather interestingly sized comets
have gotten close enough to Earth to make some realize that there might just be a
chance to study them sooner rather than later. But to study one of this size? That's another
story. We'll just have to wait and see what this icy piece does in the next ten years
and whether we'll get better chance to observe it before it turns around.
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Of course, more than likely, you're thinking about one thing when you hear that a "massive comet is
headed our way." And that is the fact that if it was to come our way..."we'd be screwed, right?"
Well...more than likely...yes, yes we would. First and foremost, the size of this particular comet is
very disconcerting. After all, it's 62 miles across and no doubt very heavy. Remember,
force = mass x acceleration. Sure, it'll be kind of slow if it was to hit Earth,
especially after burning up a bit in the atmosphere, but when it hits...the word,
"BOOM" would not be an apt enough description for the destruction that it would cause.
Some out there might go, "But what if it fell into the ocean?" That might seem like a "best
case scenario" but in truth...not so much. Think about it like this. Where are all the oceans?
Situated between or next two massive, or small, pieces of land. The Pacific is between Asia and
the Americas as well as Australia, the Atlantic is in between the Americas, Africa and Europe,
the Indian is wedged between three different continents and so on and so forth.
A 62-mile long comet hitting any part of the ocean, even perfectly center between some
of those land masses is going to cause massive destruction for one simple reason...tidal waves.
Yeah, exactly. The moment that impact lands, the waters of the area are going to rise up
and go out in all directions. We all know the terrifying power of tsunamis that have
been caused by earthquakes. Now imagine that happening on an even bigger scale.
Any small island that is in the path of those waves? Will be wiped out. The various coastlines
of the continents near where the comet hits? Would be drowned in water and even when it (the
water) recedes, the levels of ocean will make it so that the maps will need to be redrawn.
And that says nothing of the loss of life that would happen both in the oceans and on land.
In short, even if it landed in the oceans...we'd be screwed.
Then, of course, if it straight-up hit on land, there would be nothing to "soften"
the blow and the explosion of heat that would be caused by the impact would wipe out anything
within an incredible radius. We're not talking a few miles or even a few hundred,
we'd be talking thousands of miles depending on where it landed.
This would be worse than a nuclear bomb going off or several of them going
off right next to each other. So needless to say, we wouldn't want either option to happen at all.
Because of the threat this honestly causes humanity, many television shows and movies
have tried to "capture that fear" and showcase "how it can be handled". But that's where things
get a bit...tricky. Because in those shows and movies...they have time and resources to go and
try to figure it out, and in MANY of those movies, they always "find a way out" of the situation. But
for us in the real world...it wouldn't be easy. As we noted earlier, even IF we have a warning
about the comet coming (which sometimes we honestly don't because of the randomness of space
and what comes close to the Earth) that doesn't mean we can do anything about it. Take this comet
for example. You'd think that with it coming in 2031 that we'd have time to get everything worked
out to destroy it. But it's not that simple. First off, if you want to destroy it, you'd have
to reach it. But given our current technology levels, that's not really a feasible option
because we'd NEED it to get closer in order to deal with it in a more efficient manner. You might
think, "Can't we just attach a nuke to a probe and fire it at the comet?" No, that wouldn't work.
Even the most powerful nuke we have likely wouldn't destroy a comet 62-miles wide.
What's more, there's a risk that even if it did shatter it...that the pieces would still fall
towards the Earth. Which would mean all of a sudden that we'd have SEVERAL comets heading
our way instead of just one massive one, and even smaller comets can do greater damage.
Plus, that's a big risk on various levels just on the Earth-side of things. Because if a single
thing goes wrong at launch? A nuke is going off Earthside and that is good for no one.
Redirection is often something that is discussed in movies and such to go and
keep things like meteors away from us. The problem with that is similar to the nuke problem though.
You'd have to go and get something to the comet to push it away, and then...it would
have to be powerful enough to actually go and push it away. Not an easy thing by any metric.
In truth, a comet or meteor coming to our planet and hitting it is honestly a worst-case scenario
that we can't overcome or plan for at present because we just don't have the means or resources
to try and do anything about it. And even if we did, it's not exactly something we
can test...until we honestly have a problem. Thankfully for us, it's not very likely that
a comet or meteor or great size will be coming to hit us anytime soon. Sure, that could be a wrong
assumption, but it's also true that nothing of this comet's size has hit Earth in a very long
time depending on what you believe (see: dinosaur extinction). So until it does happen, or threatens
to happen, we shouldn't worry about it too much. Thanks for watching! What did you think of this
look at the comet that be a planet killer that is heading towards the Earth right now?
Are you shocked that such a thing exists in our universe and is heading our way?
Do you think we have nothing to worry about overall? Let us know in the comments below,
be sure to subscribe and we'll see you next time on the channel!