Mysterious Comet K2 baffles scientists

We have a visitor in our backyard. Comet K2 is set to fly by Earth this week. Comets are not rare as much as they are fascinating. They are made of water, dust and ice. Comet K2 is the most distant active comet found. And this one has scientists scratching their heads.

Comets 'live' in Oort cloud, a repository of comets and other frozen spacaballs in the outer reaches of our Solar System. When external gravitational forces nudge one of the comets, it comes under the gravitational influence of the Sun and begins travelling million of miles towards the Sun. As the comet gradually comes closer to the Sun, it begins warming up and ice begins melting. As this happens, the water and other materials form the tail and halo of the comet.

Usually, this process starts when the comet is around Jupiter. But Comet K2 gave signs of this activity when it was around Neptune. The comet developed a halo when it was in a region of Solar System where solar rays are too feeble to melt ice on the comet.

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Comets are like time capsules. They contain within them elements and materials that were formed at the time of formation of the Solar System. Study of comets is hence very important for scientists.

"It's kind of like being able to touch something from the beginning of the solar system," David Jewitt, an astronomer at University of California, Los Angeles, told Space.com. "It's probably the most primitive thing in the inner solar system at this time."

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