Its size is 129 kilometers across, it is 50 times larger than the nucleus of most known comets. The mass of the bolide is about 500 trillion tons – a hundred thousand times the mass of a typical comet found closer to the Sun.
The object, known as C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein), is moving at 35 thousand kilometers per hour from the edge of the solar system to its center. According to scientists, earthlings can be calm: the comet will not approach the Sun closer than 1.6 billion kilometers. This is – even farther than the planet Saturn. The visit of the space visitor is scheduled for 2031.
The age of the comet is billions of years – it is a witness to the early days of the solar system. It became known in November 2010, when it was at a distance of 4.8 billion kilometers from the Sun. Since then, researchers have been striving to learn more about this object, using telescopes both in space and on Earth, writes The Independent.
As reported by Plus-one.ru, earlier NASA representatives warned about a dangerous asteroid measuring 400 meters in length. It approached the Earth on March 24, 2022 at a distance of 3 million kilometers. As a rule, scientists have recognized dangerous asteroids or comets, if they are within 7.4 million kilometers of the planet and have a diameter of at least 140 meters. A celestial body of this magnitude is capable of wiping out cities and devastating entire regions.
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