A 'Tail' of Two Comets

NASA | MARCH 19, 2016

Two comets that will safely fly past Earth later this month may have more in common than their intriguingly similar orbits. They may be twins of a sort.

Comet 252P/LINEAR and comet P/2016 BA14. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Comet P/2016 BA14 was discovered on Jan. 22. It was initially thought to be an asteroid, but follow-up observations, showed a faint tail, revealing that the discovery was, in fact, a comet. The orbit of this newly discovered comet, however, held yet another surprise. Comet P/2016 BA14 follows an unusually similar orbit to that of comet 252P/LINEAR, which was discovered on April 7, 2000. The apparent coincidence may be an indication of twin nature in that comet. P/2016 BA14 is roughly half the size of comet 252P/LINEAR and might be a fragment that calved off sometime in the larger comet's past.

Perhaps during a previous pass through the inner-solar system, or during a distant flyby of Jupiter, a chunk that we now know of as BA14 might have broken off of 252P.

Comet 252P/LINEAR, approximately 750 feet (230 meters) in size, will zip past Earth on Monday, March 21 at a range of about 3.3 million miles (5.2 million kilometers). The following day, comet P/2016 BA14 will safely fly by our planet at a distance of about 2.2 million miles (3.5 million kilometers). This will be the third closest flyby of a comet in recorded history next to comet D/1770 L1 (Lexell) in 1770 and comet C/1983 H1 (IRAS-Araki-Alcock) in 1983.

The time of closest approach for comet 252P/LINEAR on March 21 will be around 5:14 a.m. PDT (8:14 a.m. EDT). The time of closest approach for P/2016 BA14 on March 22 will be around 7:30 a.m. PDT (10:30 a.m. EDT).

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Deepwater Horizon oil spill contributed to high number of Gulf dolphin deaths

As part of an unusual mortality event investigation, a team of scientists has discovered that dead bottlenose dolphins stranded in the northern Gulf of Mexico since the start of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill have lung and adrenal lesions consistent with petroleum product exposure.

Tiny Brazilian Frogs Deaf to Own Calls

Pumpkin toadlets, found on the leaf litter of Brazil's Atlantic forest, are among the smallest frogs in the world. Scientists have now discovered that two species of these tiny orange frogs cannot hear the sound of their own calls.

Scientists develop mouse ‘embryo-like structures’ with organisation along body’s major axes

A team of scientists at the University of Cambridge has developed an artificial mouse embryo-like structure capable of forming the three major axes of the body.

Children with Cushing syndrome may have higher suicide risk

An experimental dengue vaccine protected all the volunteers who received it from infection with a live dengue virus.

Blue sharks use ocean eddies as fast-tracks to food

Blue sharks use large, swirling ocean currents known as eddies to fast-track their way to food in the twilight zone -- a layer of the sea between 200 and 1,000 meters deep.

Super-Earth Orbiting Barnard’s Star

The nearest single star to the Sun hosts an exoplanet at least 3.2 times as massive as Earth — a so-called super-Earth.