The Mysterious Comet K2 had astonished the Scientists
Comet K2 is considered as one of the most distant 'active' comets which has ever discovered till date. It is found swinging past our planet this week as it is making its first ever journey from the outermost reaches of the solar system towards the sun. Astronomers have been looking at the mysterious ice ball in awe, creating new and frequently surprising discoveries for them at each step of the way.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Comet K2 is the most the mysterious ice ball in awe which surprised the scientists
- It is the most fascinating thing which is mostly made up of water, dust and ice
- As comet comes closer to the Sun, it gets warmed up and ice gets melted away
Comet K2 has been a supply of fascinating discoveries, surprising the scientists with some unexpected behaviors. Comets can be considered as not that rare as much as they are fascinating. Well, they are mostly made up of water, dust and ice. And this particular comet has made the scientists to scratch their heads.
These comets 'live' in Oort cloud, a repository of comets and alternative frozen spacaballs within the outer reaches of the Solar System. Once the external gravitational forces nudge one of all comets then it comes underneath the gravitational influence of the Sun and it begins traveling millions of miles towards the Sun. as we see the comets to come bit by bit nearer to the Sun, it starts warming up and ice begins to melt. As this continues the water and alternative materials within it form the tail and halo of the comet.
Usually, this method starts once the comet is found around the Jupiter. However, Comet K2 had already started to give signs of this activity once it was around Neptune. The comet had developed a halo once it had been in the region of Solar System where the solar rays are too feeble to melt the ice on the comet.
Comets appear to be like the time capsules. They contain elements and materials which were formed at the time of formation of the Solar System. Hence, the study of comets is absolutely important for scientists.
'It is a kind of somthing like having the ability to touch something from the start of the Solar System,' David Jewitt, an astronomer at University of California, Los Angeles. He added to it that 'It is basically the most primitive factor within the inner solar system during this time.' Then, later Jewitt had determined that K2 should have already been active for many years once that first image was taken.
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