A snowball in space
- POSTED ON: 1 Aug, 2020
- TOTAL VIEWS: 536 Views
- POSTED BY: Bhavya Venkatesh | Video: Jagadish Kumar TPM
- ARTICLE POINTS: 150 Points
It is believed that the last time it graced the Earth’s skies was around 4,500 years ago. The next time it will visit us will be about 6,800 years from now. Comet NEOWISE recently streaked past the Earth, giving us a rare celestial treat.
Bright and brilliant, Comet NEOWISE was discovered on March 27, 2020, by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) spacecraft when the comet was making its way towards the Sun. It made its closest approach to the Sun on July 3 and then turned back to make its way towards the outer Solar System.
Its nucleus is about five kilometres in diameter. Its dust tail and gas tail stretch hundreds of thousands to millions of kilometres, and it has water equal to about 13 million Olympic swimming pools. It orbits the Sun every 600 to 700 years.
The comet was the brightest to be visible from the Northern Hemisphere in about a quarter century. It came closest to the Earth on July 22, at a distance of 103 million kilometres. For those who managed to get a glimpse of the comet, it was an unforgettable spectacle indeed.
So what exactly are comets? Watch this video to find out all about them.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons