NASA has announced the discovery of a particularly remarkable celestial body: it is a giant comet directly from the horizon of the Solar System. The agency intends to get rid of the worms from this giant interstellar traveler. Objective: To learn more about the origin of the Solar System and its origin.

Inherited the brutal nickname C / 2014 UN271, this comet is distinguished first and foremost by its extraordinary dimensions. This is 85 miles, or about 138 km long ! Hence, a real giant that surpasses all its companions. Of course, this object is approx 50 times more than average The comet nucleus is usually observed by NASA. Simple numbers The largest comet ever identified in the history of astronomy.

A mysterious cradle at the far end of the solar system

By default, NASA has so far failed to gather more information about the C / 2014 UN271. However, researchers have been able to determine when it originated Oort cloud. It is a large body of ice and dust located about 3 light-years away, in the extreme reaches of the Solar System’s gravitational field.

The Oort cloud is of particular interest to astronomers; They believe it contains many secrets directly related to the formation of the solar system. Indeed, many researchers believe that clouds first formed near the sun.

At the time, our cosmic neighborhood was far from stable. Physically speaking, the system was very unbalanced; Many celestial bodies, including Jupiter-like Titans, were flying in all directions while waiting to stabilize in one orbit. So they created A Large gravitational pull Who has Most of the material was shuffled and redistributedNow including Oort Cloud.

Therefore, the structure and distribution of cloud material is of great interest to researchers. But unfortunately, it is also particularly difficult to monitor. It is very difficult, in fact, no one has been able to do this directly, because there are no nearby stars to illuminate the surrounding objects. Although there are many indications that its existence is widely accepted, the cloud persists Technically Imaginary.

A window into the origin of the solar system

Every time NASA finds an object suspected to have originated in this area, it’s a Notable event To astronomers; And C / 2014 UN271 is no exception. In particular, unlike most of its symbionts, it is large enough to be seen from a distance.

“This comet is literally the tip of an iceberg of thousands of comets, so obscure that it cannot be seen in distant parts of the Solar System.”Explains David Juvit, an astronomer at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). “Since it was rare to see such a bright comet at such a distance, we suspected it would be very large. “, He clarifies.”Now we can confirm that.”

Another piece of good news is that this will be monitored for a while. Of course, C / 2014 UN271 is currently in a sentence approaching the sun, and the earth by extension. It will reach its perihelion – the point of orbit closest to the Sun – in 2031. So NASA has a Small ten years To extract as much information as possible from this interstellar traveler. We need to take advantage of it, because C / 2014 UN271 will not visit us again for three million years. With a little luck, this time will be enough to learn more about the mysterious Oort cloud and the beginning of the solar system!