Home » A strange celestial body breaks into the solar system and looks mysterious | Mysterious strange celestial body | Neptune | Saturn

A strange celestial body breaks into the solar system and looks mysterious | Mysterious strange celestial body | Neptune | Saturn

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[New Tang Dynasty Beijing time June 23, 2021]Astronomers have discovered that a mysterious and strange star with a diameter of about 370 kilometers has broken into the inner solar system, has crossed the orbit of Neptune, and is heading towards Saturn. After this visit to the solar system, it will take several million years to return to the depths of the universe and continue its long journey.

According to foreign media reports, this celestial body is called 2014 UN271 and was discovered during the Dark Energy Survey (DES) program from 2014 to 2018. Many astronomers believe that it may be a huge comet with an estimated diameter of 130 to 370 kilometers.

From the moment it was discovered, scientists were bewildered by its weird and suspicious appearance. It is close to the size of a dwarf planet, but it comes from 55,000 astronomical units, or the Oort cloud 0.9 light-years away.

The Oort Cloud is theoretically a spherical cloud cluster around the sun, mainly composed of ice microplanets. Located in interstellar space, it is as far as 100,000 astronomical units (about 2 light years) from the sun, which is half the distance between the sun and the neighboring stars.

The Kuiper Belt and Discrete Disk, which are also composed of objects outside Neptune, are less than one-thousandth of the Oort Cloud from the Sun. The outer edge of the Oort Cloud marks the edge of the solar system structure and also the edge of the sun’s gravitational influence.

The Oort cloud consists of two parts: a spherical outer layer and a disc-shaped inner layer. The latter is also called the Hills cloud. The main components of the Oort Cloud celestial bodies are solid volatiles such as water ice, ammonia and methane.

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Astronomers speculate that the material that made up the Oort cloud was first located closer to the sun, and was scattered to farther positions today due to the gravitational action of Jupiter and Saturn in the early formation of the solar system.

The Oort Cloud is the outermost frozen “spherical shell” of the solar system. It is composed of the protoplanetary disk material after the formation of the solar system or the solid volatiles such as water ice, ammonia and methane that were expelled there, forming many so-called comets. Small celestial body.

Since these celestial bodies are formed by the freezing of volatile matter, after entering the inner solar system, they will be heated and released gas after being irradiated by sunlight, forming long coma and tails.

The diameter of a comet is generally several hundred meters to several tens of kilometers. 2014 UN271 may be at least hundreds of kilometers. If it is really a comet, its nucleus may have exceeded the previously discovered largest comet C/1729 P1, and it must have been discovered in history. The largest Oort cloud celestial body.

Since 2014 UN271 is neither like a comet nor an asteroid, and it is extremely large, it has aroused strong interest from scientists and has been tracking its trajectory for several years.

It is currently known that it will reach Saturn’s orbit outside the orbit of Saturn in 2031, 10.9 astronomical units away from the ball. After a quick peek at Jupiter, Mars, Earth and other inner solar system objects, it will return to the Oort Cloud to continue its quiet life , At the true boundary of the solar system, watch the vast starry sky.

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Due to the distance, when UN271 is at its maximum brightness in 2014, it may be similar to Charon, the moon of Pluto, so it will not be visible to the human eye. But if there is a 200mm telescope, it will be possible to see this huge celestial body from the edge of the solar system in 10 years, and the next time it will be 4.5 million years later.

2014 UN271 took 3 million years to make a circle and come back again. Why is it going to be 4.5 million years next time? It is said that 3 million years is the 2014 UN271 inbound Orbital period (inbound Orbital period), which refers to the orbital period calculated from the aphelion to the perihelion this time, that is, the time of return experience.

Because the comet is closer to the sun, more matter will evaporate, and coupled with the gravitational influence of other planets, after 2014 UN271 leaves perihelion, the orbit will extend and the period will grow to 4.5 million years. This period is called a comet. The outbound Orbital period (outbound Orbital period).

According to reports, the orbit of UN271 in 2014 has changed several times, but what remains unchanged is that the orbital period is very long, and in the next 10 years, it will almost reach the orbit of Saturn when it is closest to the sun.

Some astronomers predict that this huge comet may not be as good as the Sarabat Great Comet of 1729, and it will also form the unique comet’s hair and tail, but it still requires an astronomical telescope to observe it.

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(Comprehensive report by reporter Li Yun/Editor in charge: Li Quan)

The URL of this article: https://www.ntdtv.com/b5/2021/06/23/a103149237.html

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