C/2014 UN271 Largest Comet With Molecular Activity

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C/2014 UN271 Largest Comet With Molecular Activity
Oktay Yürük aka Oktay74tn, science and tech content
https://imgur.com/user/Oktay74tn

This is an artist's image of the comet C/2014 UN271, also known as Bernardinelli–Bernstein. With a diameter of 137 kilometers (85 miles), it is by far the largest comet in the solar system. It is 1000 times more massive than a typical comet.

This image of UN271 is from the Dark Energy Survey in 2017, when the comet was 25 AU away. The comet is currently moving towards the sun.

The orbit of UN271, shown in light green and dark green in this image, is perpendicular to the ecliptic. The large comet is currently 15 AU away from the sun. Its aphelion, the most distant point of its orbit around the sun, is 40,000 AU away in the Oort cloud.

The flux map of UN271's carbon monoxide emissions taken with ALMA shows explosive outgassing patterns. As UN271 moves closer to the sun, more molecules will be emitted, for example carbon dioxide (CO2), formaldehyde (HCHO) and possibly ammonia (NH3).

This is UN271's skypath as seen from Earth. The loops are caused by the annual motion of the Earth around the sun. In 2031, the comet will reach its perihelion at a distance of 11 AU (outside Saturn's orbit) and then move away from the sun again.

The Hubble image shows the solid icy nucleus of UN271 surrounded by a shell of gas and dust. The comet is a good example for understanding the chemistry of the outermost objects in the solar system.

The First Detection of Molecular Activity in the Largest Known Oort Cloud Comet: ALMA Imaging of C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli–Bernstein) at 16.6 au from the Sun
Nathan X. Roth, Stefanie N. Milam, Martin A. Cordiner, Dominique Bockelée-Morvan, et al.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/add526

ALMA Detects Molecular Activity in Largest Known Oort Cloud Comet
https://www.sci.news/astronomy/alma-molecular-activity-comet-bernardinelli-bernstein-13995.html

Record-Sized Comet Seen Belching Jets From Surface as It Heads Our Way
Michael Irving
https://www.sciencealert.com/record-sized-comet-seen-belching-jets-from-surface-as-it-heads-our-way

Wikipedia articles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2014_UN271_(Bernardinelli-Bernstein)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Large_Millimeter_Array

Check out https://imgur.com/user/Oktay74tn for many more astronomy and technology videos.

chemistry

astronomy

universe

nature_is_awesome

nasa

cAPTNcAPSLOCK

Who told you that you had any skill in narrating videos? Please find and slap them. Thanks, the audience.

1 month ago |

Laylah77

Thank you!

2fligh2high

Interesting, thanks!

CaptBuckMinster

You’ve become a daily staple in my morning routine, @OP, thank you so much for this content!

You are welcome :)

possumEnjoyer

Enjoy the NASA science while you can, if you haven’t seen the news the whole agency is facing some of the most massive budget cuts in history. It’s the space science programs and scientists that are likely to hit the hardest, with major cancellations and layoffs impending- all to save like 0.1% of the federal budget. NASA will be less than the DoD’s annual anti-corrosion budget (~$20B). Meanwhile households filing taxes with incomes over $1M/yr are estimated to recieve ~$93B in new tax cuts. 🆘

greggbert

Everything made of molecules has molecular activity

Yes, the kinesin protein walking on a microtubule is a fantastic example https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kinesin_walking.gif .

ItHappenedInThe20thCentury

Organic compounds in the Oort cloud?? That's ridiculous. That huge thing comes around our neighborhood and starts farting nonsense like that, I am shocked. You could hit the Eiffel Tower AND the Reims cathedral at the same time with this thing, and on top of it it would smell horrible.

But seriously, your posts are always super neat, @OP, I'm constantly fascinated by them.

Thank you. :)