Two Record Breaking Comets Approach In March – Should We be Worried?

A pair of comets showing very similar orbits are approaching Earth, and astronomers will use radio-telescopes to obtain radar images, while advanced amateurs may capture images of each of the twin comets. While both will pass at a safe distance, one of them will have a record-breakingly close flyby. Comet 252P/LINEAR 12 was already known to be passing by Earth on March 21, 2016 at a distance of 3,290,000 miles (5.3 million km). This is about 14 times the Earth-Moon distance, and, taken by itself, sets no record.

Astronomers Matthey Knight, Michael S. P. Kelley and Silvia Protopapa detected the tail on object “2016 BA14” using the Discovery Channel Telescope, which is operated by the Lowell Observatory. Did comet 252P split in two? We may find out soon.

Comet P/2016 BA14 (Pan-STARRS) will safely pass Earth on March 22,2016, passing even closer than comet 252P. Comet P/2016 BA14 flyby will be at just 2,199,933 miles (3.5 million km) or about 9 lunar distances, which is very close for a comet. In fact, this comet – P/2016 BA14 – will set a record as the third-closest known comet to pass our planet in recorded history.

Astronomers have seen a lot of asteroids coming even closer to Earth, but … comets are different. No, there is absolutely no danger to planet Earth, because 9 lunar distances is a very safe distance.

Which comet has passed closer to Earth than any other comet in recorded history ?

First place goes to Comet D/1770 L1 (Lexell). Comet Lexell went at just 5.9 lunar distances on July, 1770. That was about 1,410,100 miles (2.3 million km), so close that Charles Messier noted the comet’s coma looked about the size of four times the apparent size of a full moon.

According to astronomers calculations, Comet 55P/1366 U1 (Temple-Tuttle) passed by Earth on October, 1366 at 8.9 lunar distances.

On May, 1983, comet C/1983 H1 ( IRAS-Araki-Alcock ) passed at 12.2 lunar distances. So comet IRAS – currently the third-closest comet to pass by Earth – will step down to become the fourth-closest after the upcoming flyby on March by the comet discovered this year (P/2016 BA14).

Since comet IRAS passed at 12.2 lunar distances, the upcoming flyby of P/2016 BA14 will be the closest flyby of a comet in 246 years!

Will it be visible?
Comets may look bright when passing close to the sun and react to solar heat. Although comet P/2016 BA14 will pass relatively close to our planet, its great distance to the sun will make it look very dim. It will not be visible to the unaided eye. Also, “P/2016 BA14” is a small comet, with a nucleus size between 1411 to 1788 ft (430 to 545 meters) in diameter. If there are no variations in brightness, scientists estimate that Comet P/2016 BA14 should have a magnitude of 12 or 13 , which means it will only be captured with large telescopes. Good news is that we may have nice views coming from a famous telescope in orbit. Astronomer Michael Kelly from the University of Maryland said:

We have secured 6 orbits of Hubble Space Telescope time to snap some high-resolution photos during the close approach.

The relative closeness of the comet to our planet will cause that images obtained by advanced amateurs and observatories will clearly show the motion of the celestial visitor, which is traveling at 31,345 miles per hour (50,445 km/h) through space.

Both comets will also be studied using Radio-Telescopes. From March 20 to 23, astronomers will send radio signals to comet P/2016 BA14 using NASA’s Goldstone Radar in California. Those signals will bounce on the comet’s nucleus and will be received at the Green Bank Radar in West Virginia.

The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico will have a better “radar view” of comet 252P/LINEAR, and will obtain radar images of the celestial visitor between April 10-18.

Will the “twin comets” produce meteors?

Probably not, but, according to some astronomers, there is a slight possibility of seeing a few meteors related to Comet P/2016 BA14 around March 20, 2016. Meanwhile, its “twin comet” 252P LÍNEAR might produce a few meteors sometime between March 28-30. So heads up around those dates, just in case.

The twin comets flyby will be a very interesting event. Stay tuned!

Bottom line: Two comets in similar orbits will pass Earth safely in late March. One of them – comet P/2016 BA14 – will set a record as the third-closest comet to Earth in recorded history.