The Curious Case of Twin Comets: Set to Make One of the Closest Flybys of Earth
The current week will witness a rare astronomical event. Two twin-like comets will fly past the earth at a very close distance, on Monday and Tuesday.
The news has brought much cheer among the scientists as they see it as an opportunity to know more about the working of the comets. It will also make for a magnificent sky watching event for the people interested in such phenomena as one of the comets is very likely to be visible from the naked eye.
The comets, namely P/2016 BA14 and 252P/LINEAR share similar orbits and this is why they have been tagged with the title of twins. Astronomical experts are also saying that they might be sharing more common traits than their orbits.
Interestingly, as per reports, comet P/2016 BA14 was discovered as recently as January, 2016 by the University of Hawaii's PanSTARRS telescope on Haleakala, on the island of Maui. Initially, it was thought to be an asteroid but detailed observations by University of Maryland and Lowell Observatory team with the Discovery Channel Telescope, revealed that it was actually a comet, with a very faint tail.
The scientists were quite intrigued when they discovered comet P/2016 BA14's striking resemblance to the orbit of 252P/LINEAR, which was discovered way before in April, 2000. The former is about half the size of its elder brother and therefore, it is being speculated that it might be a fragment that broke up sometime in the past.
This rare occurrence is historically significant as well because it is for the first time after 1983 that a comet (P/2016 BA14) is coming so close to our planet. It will pass from the earth at a distance of just 3.5 million km (2.2 million miles), which also makes it the third closest flyby comet in the recorded history.
The bigger one, i.e. 252P/LINEAR will pass by at a safe distance of 5.2 million km (3.3 million miles), which makes it the fifth closest comet in recorded history.
