Scientists have reported that a massive comet, possibly the largest ever discovered, is heading towards the inner solar system with an estimated arrival time of 10 years from now. According to the website "Live Science," which published the news on Friday, October 1, 2021, researchers have estimated the diameter of the comet, named Bernardinelli-Bernstein after its discoverers, to be about 95 miles. It was identified using data from the Dark Energy Survey, as researchers have been examining the data since its discovery to learn more about it, indicating that they will soon publish a study about it in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
According to the source, the comet has a highly elongated orbit and is currently traveling from the Oort Cloud— a hypothesized collection of icy bodies located far beyond Pluto’s orbit. The new paper indicates that it will reach its perihelion, the point at which it gets closest to the Sun, in 2031. It will come within 11 astronomical units of the Sun (with 1 astronomical unit equal to the average distance between the Sun and Earth), placing it outside Saturn's orbit, as reported by Digitartlends.
This presents scientists with a significant opportunity to study the comet up close, using tools such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which will conduct a sky survey to identify many comets, including those much smaller than Bernardinelli-Bernstein. The observatory will also track the comet as it approaches, allowing researchers to learn more about objects from the Oort Cloud and what they can reveal about the early solar system.
Discoverer Gary Bernstein previously stated, "We are privileged to discover perhaps the largest comet we have ever seen - or at least larger than any well-studied comet - and we found it early enough for people to witness its evolution as it approaches and warms up," adding that "it hasn’t visited the solar system in over 3 million years."
