G.O.G Posted July 28, 2017 Posted July 28, 2017 There are many more large and potentially dangerous kites that approach Earth through space than scientists had thought, a new study suggests. The research was led by James Bauer, a professor at the University of Maryland, And has been published in The Astronomical Journal. Bauer analyzed data compiled by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft. "Comets travel much faster than asteroids. Some of them are very large, "explains study co-author Amy Mainzer of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. According to her, investigations of this type will help to define what kind of danger can comets present in the long term. The stars of this type are divided into two groups: those of long period and those of the Jupiter family. Comets of the first category are believed to arise in the distant Oort Cloud, a sphere of icy bodies lying at a distance of 300,000 million kilometers from the Sun. These comets would have been plucked towards the Sun by gravitational interactions with others Inhabitants of Oort Cloud millions of years ago. However, the comets of the Jupiter family are very different. They are relatively close to the Sun, completing a lap around the star in less than 20 years. They are so named because the powerful gravity of Jupiter has shaped their orbits. WISE data reveal an unexpected abundance of long period comets. For example, for eight months, three times as many of these objects as the scientists had predicted passed by the Sun. The study team also determined that long-period comets are up to twice as large as those of the Jupiter family.
Recommended Posts