The comet and planet x
news aug 17 2011
The comet Elenin
is passing through the inner solar system right now and will make its closest approach to Earth on Oct. 16. The comet has sparked an Internet firestorm among believers who claim its approach is linked to Earth's destruction, a rogue "planet" called Nibiru and a NASA conspiracy to cover it all up.
Now NASA is stressing the simple truth: Comet Elenin is just an icy comet â€”and a wimpy one at that â€” which poses no threat to our planet.
Take, for example, Elenin's "close" approach to Earth. That closest point is still out in deep space, a distant 22 million miles (35 million kilometers) from our planet. That's more than 90 times the distance from the Earth to the moon.
The speculations by comet Elenin doomsayers claiming that the comet will align with other planets or celestial bodies to wreak havoc on Earth are just not true.
"Any approximate alignments of comet Elenin with other celestial bodies are meaningless, and the comet will not encounter any dark bodies that could perturb its orbit, nor will it influence us in any way here on Earth," said a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
"Often, comets are portrayed as harbingers of gloom and doom in movies and on television, but most pose no threat to Earth. Comet Elenin, the latest comet to visit our inner solar system, is no exception."
Comet Elenin was discovered on Dec. 10, 2010 by astronomer Leonid Elenin of Russia, who made the find using a remote-controlled observatory based in New Mexico. At the time, the comet was about 401 million miles (647 million km) from Earth. It is fairly faint and not expected to dazzle skywatchers.
Since then, the comet (officially known as C/2010 X1) has made its way into the inner solar system, giving rise to many rumors â€” some outlandish â€” that link comet Elenin to 2012 end-of-the-world theories and other disaster scenarios.
Will comet Elenin block out the sun, causing three days of darkness? No, the comet won't cross the face of the sun as seen from Earth, and even if it did it's much too small to have an effect.
Will the comet pass between the Earth and the moon? No, it will be 90 times farther way.
Will comet Elenin cause shifting tides or earthquakes on Earth? Not at all.
"So you've got a modest-sized icy dirtball that is getting no closer than about 22 million miles. It will have an immeasurably miniscule influence on our planet. By comparison, my subcompact automobile exerts a greater influence on the ocean's tides than comet Elenin ever will."
Comet Elenin and a hidden object? Another theory rampant on the Internet is that comet Elenin is actually a type of failed star known as a "brown dwarf," or could be affected by another unknown planet or star, such as a rogue object called Nibiru suggested by many believers or brown dwarf star.
A comet is nothing like a brown dwarf. And comets are far too small to have a measureable gravitational influence on anything.
Whether the comet will be visible to the unaided eye remains to be seen.
This intrepid little traveler will offer astronomers a chance to study a relatively young comet that came here from well beyond our solar system's planetary region. After a short while, it will be headed back out again, and we will not see or hear from Elenin for thousands of years.
X vs 2012 video: