Record-Sized comet spews jets en route to inner solar system
The biggest known Oort Cloud comet, Bernardinelli-Bernstein (C/2014 UN271), is heading toward the inner Solar System—and astronomers just spotted something cool.
Using Chile's ALMA telescope, they saw jets of carbon monoxide gas and a faint dust cloud shooting from its nucleus.
This is the first time scientists have caught this distant giant in action, and it's about 137km wide (that's huge for a comet).
Bernardinelli-Bernstein will swing closest to the Sun in 2031
ALMA picked up two strong gas jets after an outburst, with one jet sticking around until mid-March as things settled down.
The telescope also captured signals from the comet's core and its dusty coma, giving researchers fresh clues about how these icy bodies wake up as they get closer to the Sun.
Bernardinelli-Bernstein will swing closest to the Sun—still way out near Saturn—in January 2031. It won't be visible without a telescope, but scientists are excited to keep watching its journey and learn more about massive comets like this one.