A CELESTIAL TRIFECTA "WOW" WEDNESDAY: MEGA COMET - NEW INTERSTELLAR VISITOR (UPDATED) - 5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE NIGHT SKY

 Hey, Space Placers!

Flying boulder with jet.

Artist’s concept of Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein. Astronomers have spotted the mega comet shooting out jets of carbon monoxide as it barrels toward the sun. Image via NSF/ AUI/ NSF NRAO/ M. Weiss.
Credit: EarthSky.org


Welcome to WOW Wednesday as there is MUCH happening in astronomy news.

 MEGA COMET   

From the article: Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein, affectionately known as Comet BB, is 85 miles wide (140 km wide). It’s about 10 times the size of a typical comet. At the moment, the comet is still at a distance about halfway to Neptune’s orbit around our sun. It’s 16.6 astronomical units (AU) away, or more than 16 times Earth’s distance from the sun. 

See the video for more info on BB:

New interstellar object candidate in our solar system!
BREAKING BEWS: NOW DESIGNATED 3I/ATLAS

For only the 3rd time in history, astronomers might have just identified an interstellar object hurtling through our solar system. 

 

The newly discovered space rock, currently named A11pl3Z, could be as large as 12 miles (20 km) in diameter. And it's soaring toward the sun on a trajectory that suggests it originated outside our solar system.

There is no danger of the object hitting Earth. It's set to pass at its closest to the sun in October, when it will be about 2 astronomical units (AU) away from our star, or twice as far away as Earth is. And after that, it should blaze back out into interstellar space. Read about our new visitor. 


5 ways our naked-eye views of the night sky deceive us

This informative article describes how we don't get the whole picture when we look at the night sky with just our eyes. 

I highly recommend that you subscribe to "Big Think" for great and informative articles on our Universe.

Much to ponder.........

Sky Guy in VA

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