Giant comet from Oort cloud spotted moving at insane speed inside solar system. Will it reach Earth?

Astronomers have observed a giant comet hurtling towards the inner solar system, releasing superfast jets. It is spewing carbon monoxide from its surface at an absolutely insane speed. Comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) is the largest comet to originate from the Oort Cloud. The comet is absolutely humongous, measuring a whopping 137 kilometres wide. The comet first seen in March, 2024, is 14 times bigger than the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Its insane activity and size were confirmed by scientists in Chile. Will it close up on Earth any time soon?

Comet C/2014 was seen having its first outburst on 8 March last year. It was extremely hyperactive and again released a jet on 17 March, which was of a lesser scale than the first one. It is visiting from the Oort Cloud, a region in space far beyond the orbit of Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. Astronomers used the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile to make further observations and confirmed that the comet is a monster size and oozing high-speed jets.

Astrochemist Nathan Roth of American University and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center said looking at the comet gives them a chance to learn about the enormous, icy world. "We're seeing explosive outgassing patterns that raise new questions about how this comet will evolve as it continues its journey toward the inner Solar System," he said.

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After the first observation on 8 March, when scientists saw jets blasting from the comet's nucleus, it seemed to have settled down a bit by the time it released its second jet. Astronomers could only see one jet in the second observation, but they think it could have simply moved out of view. There were hints of the beginning of a coma, the cloud of gas and dust that forms around the comet's nucleus as it approaches the sun. As it gets closer, this coma starts fizzing away and forms the tail of the comet.

Comet was spotted near Uranus

The most intriguing thing about the observation is that the comet was spotted when it was just inside the orbit of Uranus, some 16 times the distance between Earth and the Sun. Its size makes it even special, since it is twice the estimated size of the comet Hale-Bopp, the previous mammoth from the Oort Cloud. The biggest comet known to man is 95P/Chiron, which is more than 210 kilometres wide. It moves in a fixed orbit around the Sun between Saturn and Uranus.

Will Comet C/2014 reach Earth?

The monster comet screeching through the solar system will not come close to Earth. It will make it as far as the orbit of Saturn on 29 January 2031. Scientists are eager to learn more about the comet when it reaches its closest point. They will continue to look at it in the meantime.