OT - 'Megacomet' Bernardinelli-Berstein is largest ever seen, Hubble telescope confirms
For those of you looking for a James Webb update, Hubble says “hello” with this update: https://www.space.com/hubble-space-telescope-largest-comet-nucleus-bernardinelli-berstein
Stretching about 80 miles (129 kilometers) across, the nucleus (or solid center) of the comet, known as C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein), is larger than the state of Rhode Island, according to a statement from NASA. And it's about 50 times larger than the average comet core.
Not to worry, the closest it will get to Earth is 1 billion miles away, which will be in 2031.
Just to remind us all how incredibly tiny we are, the Earth’s orbit is about 93 million miles from the Sun. This comets' orbit is about 2 billion miles and Pluto is about 3.6 billion miles from the Sun. And that's just what’s in our back yard!
Also in space...
For those of you who watched “Don’t Look Up”, NASA is heading out beyond Mars to look at one of those rare metal asteroids that could be worth $10,000 quadrillion. Insert Dr. Evil gif here
April 13th, 2022 at 10:36 AM ^
For some reason I read this in Billy Bob Thornton's voice. No idea why.
April 13th, 2022 at 10:47 AM ^
Not morgan freeman's?
April 13th, 2022 at 10:50 AM ^
This is a fun game! I've just imagined it being read aloud by Antonio Banderas, Samuel L Jackson, and David Attenborough.
April 13th, 2022 at 10:57 AM ^
To honor is passing, I just read it in Gilbert Godfrey's voice.
April 13th, 2022 at 11:14 AM ^
For me it was Neil De Grasse Tyson (dunno how to spell his name but all things space are in his voice for me) (unless it's patrick stewart aka jean luc picard) (but it wasn't)
Carl Sagan has joined the conversation
April 13th, 2022 at 11:30 AM ^
Gilbert Gottfried (may he rest in peace) would have been jealous.
April 13th, 2022 at 10:56 AM ^
i dont want to close my eyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees... i just want to something something.. cus i miss you babe.. and i donnnnnnnnnnt want to miss a thing...
Permission to shake the hand of the daughter of the bravest man i've ever met.
I'm glad someone got it.
April 13th, 2022 at 11:08 AM ^
I was thinking more of a Valerie Bertinelli weight loss ad. Size of Rhode Island? Come on Val.
April 13th, 2022 at 11:44 AM ^
I'm feeling Bill Pullman on this one.
James Earl Jones
BBT: "It's the size of Rhode Island, sir."
Bruce Willis: "well thank God, I thought you were going to tell me it was the size of Texas."
April 13th, 2022 at 11:25 AM ^
2031 it is. Who’s bringing the keg?
April 13th, 2022 at 12:30 PM ^
It's really really... fun to think about taking a speed of light ride...brilliant bit.
April 13th, 2022 at 11:30 AM ^
If this isn't knicknamed the Ber-Ber comet, they've missed a big opportunity.
April 13th, 2022 at 11:31 AM ^
$10 quintillion, you mean? If we accept your alternative system of "$10,000 quadrillion," then what is stopping me from saying $10,000,000 trillion?? $10,000,000,000 billion?? And that would be anarchy! :-)
When I read this news yesterday, my first response was, "And now, 'Don't Look Up' quickly goes from comedy to prophecy." Of course, if a comet 80 miles in diameter hit Earth at 22,000 mph, it would be more than an extinction-level event; it would literally destroy the planet.
Also, in related news, the DoD confirmed this week that a small meteorite traveling at an absurd 135,000 mph that entered Earth's atmosphere in 2014 was interstellar, the first known such object. Between this news and the appearance of Oumuamua a few years back, it's hard not to wonder if someone is checking us out...
April 13th, 2022 at 11:41 AM ^
I thought they were all interstellar?
Or was this one signed by Matthew McConaughey?
April 13th, 2022 at 12:06 PM ^
Nope, most of the stuff we monitor is the "leftover shit" from the formation of our solar system. Because of the sheer distances and other weird physics things (like gravity), it's less common for things from outside our solar system to reach us. From the best of my knowledge, we have observed exactly two such objects. The 2014 meteorite (the first detected) was actually first discussed much later in a 2019 paper the authors could not get published, because the US government classified the data for a while. Now they have confirmed it as "interstellar" or "extra-solar" - from outside our solar system - based on its trajectory and speed (really, really fast).
April 13th, 2022 at 11:48 AM ^
I had the same thoughts about "$10,000 quadrillion" when I read the article. The only higher number I know is "bazillion" and, like me, maybe the writer didn't know the next number above quadrillion.
Before Hubble was launched in 1990, how many of these interstellar rock came zooming past us that we didn't know about. The Earth could turn into another asteroid belt in the solar system if a large/fast rock has the right trajectory.
April 13th, 2022 at 11:57 AM ^
I was kidding, of course. Astronomers deal in such large numbers that they do weird things like this. The worst is when they hit you with a "6 X 10^15" estimate. I'm always like, "we would it really have been less meaningful/more complicated to write 6,000,000,000,000,000?"
I am sure many interstellar objects rocket through our solar system daily. These are just the first two we've been able to observe. And these two came really close and very fast, which is...interesting...
April 13th, 2022 at 12:12 PM ^
So you think someone is throwing rocks at us to see how we react? That's interesting, I guess... Personally, I just think we finally have the technology to spot some of these objects. I do believe there is other life somewhere in our known universe, but I don't think it has the smarts to fling rocks at us from a lot of light years away...
April 13th, 2022 at 12:29 PM ^
Odds are, you (and Dr. Jaws below) are correct. These are probably just rocks (or, rocks and ice and minerals) that escaped their solar system and made it here for us to see them, and we are now able to do so. There are, however, some folks far smarter than I that have proposed that Oumuamua (given its speed, shape and trajectory) may have been a solar sail or other similar device sent to observe our planet.
April 13th, 2022 at 12:51 PM ^
So that guy's - Avi Loeb - fascination with Oumuamua is that it's a derelict solar sail of some long-ago civilization, not as something specifically sent to observe us. It seems a plausible idea, but is summarily shot down by ~99.8% of astrophysicists that look at the same data Loeb has. Avi has long tried to get funding to build a solar sail powered vessel to ply the stars in search of life.
Good luck to him! But most people pin his theories of Oumuamua to his attempts to fund/build his own interstellar ship.
April 13th, 2022 at 12:54 PM ^
You seem kinda angry about this. :-) At no point did I indicate certainty about what this (or the much smaller meteorite that hit in 2014) is/are. Indeed, as I said above, the odds are it is just a strange rock behaving strangely. But there is nothing wrong with investigating the possibility it is something else.
Not angry! You read that wrong... Was just relaying who Loeb is and what he believes, is all. I don't discount his claims outright - it would very cool if they were true!
That's good, because now that we know the aliens are coming, we can't be bickering amongst ourselves. We have to be UNIFIED! :-D
Paging Marco Inaros, watch out for the Belters now!
Sci-Fi references aside I would personally be shocked if something out there doesnt have both the means and smarts to toss rocks directly at us. I just don't think its a necessary or prudent action to be taken. Something akin to the US wiping Gibraltar off the map.
April 13th, 2022 at 12:15 PM ^
Between this news and the appearance of Oumuamua a few years back, it's hard not to wonder if someone is checking us out...
By throwing space rocks at us? I'm confused by this statement.
The meteorite was shot out of orbit by bug plasma, probably originating from Klendaathu.
Do you want to know more?
I still miss Buenos Aires... :-(
E$10 would also be acceptable. (10 exadollars)
April 13th, 2022 at 12:09 PM ^
Serious question here. How would the legalities work if Elon Musk somehow launched a ship capable of towing that rare metal asteroid closer to earth for more convenient plundering?
April 13th, 2022 at 12:15 PM ^
I believe that space is 'governed' (term used loosely) by the law of the seas - meaning that it would be his treasure to plunder. But if you think various governments (and their powerful militaries) would allow all that plunder to just him...
LOL!!
April 13th, 2022 at 12:50 PM ^
I believe this is correct - Maritime Law would apply. In which case, Elon would undoubtedly demand to be called Crazy Beard and his baby mama Grimes' fashion choices would suddenly make far more sense.
This is from my 16 year old son:
So, if we have an infinite supply of the previously rare earth materials, wouldn't it be really cheap?
If he can figure out how supply and demand works, I'm sure Elon could as well!
Well, not really. That assumes Elon mines, ships, processes, and releases the entire supply into the market all at the same time. If he was smart, he would create a giant Space Warehouse and slowly release the new supply into the market over thousands of years, even after his physical body dies and he is only a head floating in saline solution...
Good point!
Elon Musk, space pirate (h/t to Mark Watney)
Stretching about 80 miles (129 kilometers) across,
I should have been more specific when I was praying for that comet to take out Ohio Stadium, feels like maybe I overdid it.
Lots of cool space discoveries lately. This one, the detection of an individual star almost 13 billion light years away, surpassing 5,000 detected exoplanets a few weeks ago.
Wait for JWST to go live...
Why the hell would anyone write $10,000 quadrillion when $10 quintillion or $10 million trillion are right there to be used...
April 13th, 2022 at 10:24 PM ^
British or American? Although less commonly used, the British system gets the next “illion” term only every 10^6 multiplier instead every 1000 multiplier. So a British 10,000 quadrillion is 10^28 or what Americans would call 10 octillion. Given it’s in *dollars* one would think they’d be using the American big number scheme though, and just say 10 quintillion. Very confusing.
At least it's not on the same trajectory as Comet Dibiasky.
“Yo’ comet’s so fat. . .”
At first I thought this was about Metacomet, aka King Philip who tried to push out the English settlers from New England during King Philip's War in the 1670s.