A giant comet from the outskirts of our Solar System has been discovered in 6 years of data from the Dark Energy Survey. Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein is estimated to be about 1000 times more massive than a typical comet, making it arguably the largest comet discovered in modern times. It has an extremely elongated orbit, journeying inward from the distant Oort Cloud over millions of years. It is the most distant comet to be discovered on its incoming path, giving us years to watch it evolve as it approaches the Sun, though it's not predicted to become a naked-eye spectacle.
The release, images and videos are available on:
https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2119/
Kind regards,
NOIRLab Communications, Education & Engagement
25 June 2021
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8 June 2021
Project & Science News Registration is now open for the 2021 Rubin Project and Community Workshop (PCW), which will be held virtually August 9-13. Details and a link to register …
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8 June 2021
Scientists working with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab and located in …
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