Two NASA astronomers have published a stunning image of a distant comet. Scientists Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell shared their amazing photo of the comet, which is the most distant of all known.
A space object called C/2017 K2 was photographed on June 20, 2022. In the wide-angle telescopic image, the comet shines brightly against the background of the open star cluster IC 4665 and the star β Ophiuchi. The comet’s coma and its lush tail are clearly visible in the picture. Now C/2017 K2 follows our inner Solar system after leaving the distant Oort cloud.
Astronomers first discovered this comet more than five years ago – in May 2017. At the time, it was the farthest active incoming comet ever found, according to NASA officials. According to observations by the Hubble Space Telescope, the comet’s nucleus is about 18 kilometers in diameter.
It is expected that the comet will approach the Earth as close as possible on July 14, 2022, and the perihelion will take place in December of this year.
According to NASA, comets are “cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rocks and dust.” They are formed from the material left over after the formation of the Solar System. When a comet approaches the Sun, it heats up and material from its surface evaporates, forming a tail of gas and dust particles directed away from the big star. There are currently 3,743 known comets in our Solar System.
Earlier, Hubble determined the size of the largest comet in history.
According to The Sun
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