Comets pass through the solar system less frequently. Huge comet falling towards Sun, a discovery that had turned heads in the astronomer community, is estimated to be nearly 150 km in diameter.
Two astronomers discovered what could be the largest comet ever spotted in the solar system earlier this year. This massive outer space giant was called the "almost spherical cow of comets," according to a new study led by the same experts.
Early studies estimated the comet's diameter at as much as 125 miles (200 kilometers), but a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and shared in written format on the online website arXiv on Monday introduces it closer to 93 miles (150 km).
The discovery was made while looking over information recorded by the Dark Energy Survey done earlier in 2021.
Astronomer Will Gater created a collection of images of other prominent solar system objects to give a sense of perspective for how massive this huge floating snowball is.
This giant comet is far bigger than Mars' biggest moon and even than the combined size of both the moons of Mars put side-by-side.
Comet C/2014 UN271 is the official name of the comet, but it's commonly known as Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein after its discoverers, Pedro Bernardinelli and Gary Bernstein, both of the University of Pennsylvania.
This massive comet isn't likely to hit with Earth, but it's on its way to the inner solar system and will travel past the Sun in 2031.
That size still implies a mass ten times that of comet Hale-Bopp, dubbed the "Great Comet of 1997" because of its magnitude.
In the coming years, there will be several discoveries and revelations by astronomers. Indeed, a recent revelation has already appeared when the Las Cumbres Observatory noticed an unexpected flash and rise in brightness earlier this month.
It's time to get used to saying Bernardinelli-Bernstein since it's a name we'll be hearing a lot more in the coming years.
