Astronomers Discover an Extraordinary Comet With Six Tails

Using the Hubble Space Telescope , astronomers have detected a multi - tailed independent - belt comet the likes of which has never been seen before .

A main - beltcometis a special class of celestial objects that orbit inside our asteroid belt and exhibit comet - like activity at some point during their orbit ( like moult some of its plenty and having tails ) . NASA delineate it as an target with a distance of more than 2 AU but less than 3.2 AU from the Sun ( 1 AU being the average distance of the Earth to the Sun ) . The first MBC was discovered in 1979 , and it was initially thought to be an asteroid . But astronomers Eric Elst and Guido Pizarro noticed it had a after part in 1996 . There are presently 11 known primary - belt comet in our solar system , includingPANSTARRS .

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Scientists think that principal - rap comet , sometimes refer to as active asteroid , may have been the source of the Earth ’s water . Typical comet lack the right substances to have ply enough water to fill the ocean . But this recently discovered comet , named P/2013 P5 , exhibits unusual characteristics that would — at least in this case — contradict that supposal .

A team of astronomer led by David Jewitt from the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of California at Los Angeles recently survey the comet over a two hebdomad period of time ( between September 10 and 23 of this year ) . What they saw was completely unheard of : a chief - smash comet spewing out no less than six tails .

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The configuration of these seat change dramatically during the track of the observations . At the same time , however , the astronomers also noticed that the comet ’s core was not degrading at a noticeable rate . The slant of each tail could be traced back to a unlike meter of cometic expulsion over a five calendar month span ( dating back to April ) . This is a unspoilt sign that there ’s continuing body process at the nucleus .

The scientist theorize that the unique multi - tailed comet is go through a gradual loss of mass due to extremely precarious rotational disruption — it ’s a comet that ’s spinning wildly and moult mass , likely on account of the torsion imposed by solar radiation sickness .

Observations also showed that P/2013 P5 is unconvincing to hold shabu . The astronomers do n’t think it came from the Kuiper belt or the Oort cloud . Its ambit is located near the inner sharpness of the asteroid whang , in the neighbourhood of the Flora family of S - case asteroids . These bodies are primarily made from Lucy Stone , comprise circle of iron . So the six - give chase comet is n’t likely to contain water chalk .

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