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A Comet That Exploded In 2007 Will Be Visible From Earth This Year: How To Watch

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A comet exploded in 2007 in space, causing the biggest detonation in astronomical history. The remains of this comet called 17P/Holmes have been floating through space. This year, Earthlings will be able to see its dusty remains in the sky.

Fascinating, right? The explosion that shook space in October 2007 made way for this rare sight for humans on Earth. At the time of the explosion, the comet brightened by a factor of a million. Momentarily, it was also the largest object in the solar system.

A Comet That Exploded In 2007 Will Be Visible From Earth This Year: How To Watch
Ivan Eder

This comet is an opportunity

In a new study, researchers have shed more light on the evolution of the dust trail produced by this explosion. Led by researchers from the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute in Finland and published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the paper claims that this is an opportunity to study cometary material.

Also read: Astrophotographer Captures Leonard Comet’s Most Detail Photo And It’s Amazing

A Comet That Exploded In 2007 Will Be Visible From Earth This Year: How To Watch
Image credit: Gritsevich, et al. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

To get a better understanding how particles are spread into elliptical orbits after space explosions, these researchers have developed a new model. 

When would the comet’s remains be visible to Earthlings? 

Researchers say that the comet’s dust particles would become detectable from Earth via modest ground telescopes in August 2022. The dust trail should begin to become visible in the end of July. In a statement, the team urged amateur astronomers to observe the dust trail using a 30 centimetre telescope that is equipped with a CCD camera via the image subtraction method.

The team has been tracking the dusty trail for quite a while now, the details of which are laid out in the paper. They found that comet’s remains form an “hourglass” pattern that converges at certain points in space.

A Comet That Exploded In 2007 Will Be Visible From Earth This Year: How To Watch
Image credit: Gritsevich, et al. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Also read: Why Do Comets Have A Green Glow? Scientists Have Finally Solved The Mystery

“I have been modeling well-known meteor streams, such as Leonids, starting from 2000 using modern simulation methods. In this study, we have also modeled the exact outburst event of the comet 17P/Holmes and the propagation of produced dust particles of the dust trail with high precision. This is the first time that these two models are combined and in this kind of high-precision way they resulted in the novel powerful model,” Markku Nissinen from the Finnish Fireball Network at the Ursa Astronomical Association said in a statement.

Will you be tuning into this cosmic display of cometary grandeur? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.

References

Pappas, S. (2022, June 3). Watch the biggest-ever comet outburst spray dust across the cosmos. Livescience.Com. 

Mckee, M. (2007, October 25). Comet brightens mysteriously by a factor of a million. New Scientist. 

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