The object in question is 2014 UN271 will be at the nearest point of the Earth in 2031.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — The outskirts of the solar system are full of mysterious objects. Now, one of those mysterious objects is heading towards Earth. Astronomers have discovered a small planet that will make its closest trajectory to the Sun in an orbit of 600,000 years.
The object in question is 2014 UN271, and was recently identified in data from the Dark Energy Survey captured between 2014 and 2018. Size estimates place it anywhere between 100 and 370 km (62 and 230 miles) wide. If the object is a comet, then it is quite large, especially for those from the outer solar system.
“(It) puts it on a scale equal to, if not larger than, the great comet Sarabat C/1729 P1, and it is almost unquestionably an object Awan Oort largest ever found,” said Sam Deen, a resident astronomer in a post on the Minor Planet Mailing List (MPML) forum. New Atlas on Tuesday (22/6).
The Oort Cloud is a very large spherical cloud in the outermost area of the Solar System. Inside the Oort cloud there are tons of cold, frozen objects with material from the universe’s past.
By far the most interesting thing about UN271 2014 is its orbit around the Sun. This object is highly eccentric, traveling between the inner solar system and the Oort cloud that marks the boundary of interstellar space over a period of 612,190 years.
As it turns out, astronomers will be witnessing the closest trajectory of this incredible round trip. Currently, UN271 2014 is about 22 Astronomical Units (AU) from the Sun. For reference, Earth is 1 AU from the Sun. That means it is closer than Neptune at 29.7 AU.
It doesn’t even stop there, it has traveled 7 AU in the last seven years. Later on for its closest point in 2031, it is expected to pass within 10.9 AU of the Sun, nearly reaching Saturn’s orbit.
Before that, it is expected to develop the comet’s characteristic coma and tail as the icy material on its surface evaporates from the sun’s heat. This close-up trajectory will give astronomers an unprecedented close-up look at Oort cloud objects.
Unfortunately for amateur astronomers in the field, don’t expect to see a show on the scale of Halley’s comet. Deen calculated that 2014 UN271 would at best be as bright as Pluto in the night sky.
However, amateur astronomers will probably get some amazing shots from telescopes and observatories of the time. After a close pass, 2014 UN271 will then slide back into pitch darkness, on its way back several hundred millenniums to the Oort cloud, and an incredible peak distance of nearly 60,000 AU.
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