Alien comet hurling towards the sun!
Recommended for Preparatory Grades
Researchers are concerned about a massive ‘alien’ comet seen hurtling toward the sun. There is an assumption among scientists that it originated in another solar system. The comet is nicknamed “96P/Machholz”.
It appears in the shape of a space iceball that is nearly 6 kilometres wide. This makes the comet greater than two-thirds the height of Mount Everest.
The comet is tracked by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft of the European Space Agency (ESA).
The comet also seems to be approaching our sun inside the orbit of Mercury and leaving an icy trail. The majority of a comet’s tail is made up of gas.
Key facts!
- From what researchers know about the past, 96P/Machholz 1 has a small amount of carbon and cyanogen.
- Thus it could be a trespasser from another solar system.
- Astronomers say that “96P is very unusual in its make-up and behaviour.”
- This means that scientists never know for sure what they will find.
- Also, experts have seen that the comet has come close to the sun five times since it was first found.
- This means that the comet isn’t going to be completely burned up by the sun.
- Some experts say that it is possible that a large planet’s gravitational pull pushed the comet out of its original solar system and into the orbit it is in now.
- Then, after it had wandered around for a long time, it might have run into Jupiter by chance.
- This could have changed its path in a way that caused it to get stuck around our sun.
- Other ideas say that the comet might not have come from another planet after all.
- Instead, it may have come from parts of the solar system that we don’t know much about.
- Still, the main goal is to keep an eye on the sun for dangerous explosions called solar flares.
- The solar flares could cause geomagnetic storms on Earth making it impossible to use the internet.
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Watch a video
The user “What If” on YouTube investigates the impact that a solar storm would have on Earth.
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