![]() “But this is a tiny piece of rock that’s millions of miles away from us, and when we’re asked to say what the brightness trajectory of these fragile objects will be it really stretches the limits of our ability to make predictions in astronomy.” ![]() What we do know is that for a comet to be easily seen by the naked eye, it has to brighten significantly as it gets closer to the Sun. “You want it to start to outgas, have a glowing tail and a that beautiful coma, and have enough material for a sustained brightening as it gets closer and closer to the Sun,” says Faherty. ![]() “We don’t know how much material they have, how they’re going to interact with the solar wind and with the radiation from the Sun as it gets closer to it, and we can’t quite predict how the material-which is already fragile-is going to light-up as it gets close.” “Comets are very fragile astronomical objects composed of ices and volatiles and as they get close to the Sun what they go through is unpredictable,” says Faherty. When it comes to composition, you really want a dust comet rather than a gas comet. MORE FROM FORBES Is It Time To Dethrone The Big Bang Theory? By Jamie Carter What kind of comet is Comet SWAN? However, in terms of it being the “comet of the century” there are a few of things that are not in Comet SWAN’s favor. For starters, it’s just not the right type of comet. “Some of the pictures of it that has been showing up on the internet are spectacular, and are definitely a tease that's getting us excited about what it could be, but if you look at the light curves it looks like Comet SWAN might be dimming,” she says.įor two fabulous images-which are arguably got the world’s attention-see the A stronomy Picture of the Day for April 29 and May 8.
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