Catalina comet will pass the Earth and can be seen with the naked eye – Daily Mail

Comet Catalina will be visible to the naked eye from Earth in the coming days, but just this once because then leave the solar system and spend the rest of his days traveling the interstellar space.

The Catalina (C / 2013 US10), discovered the October 31, 2013, comes from the Oort Cloud, a vast reservoir of comets that exist in the outer solar system , a light year away from the sun.

“The solar system has two parts, the inner housing and the outer planets, where the Oort Cloud is,” he told Efe the Spanish astronomer Miquel Serra-Ricart.

The Oort comets come from are rocks of ice and dust that slowly wander around this spherical cloud until something , “as the passage of a star or a collision between them, “ destabilize its orbit and allows the sun draws them to the inner solar system.

Catalina is very interesting from the point astronomically, as this is the only time we will have to study because “carries such a high speed that the sun can not catch it, but will have a hyperbolic fall that will leave the solar system and wander through interstellar space” Serra-Ricart said.

The comet passed closest to the Sun (perihelion) on November 15 point, 123 million kilometers from the star and, according to calculations, the moment of greatest approach to Earth will be on January 17, when it will pass 108 million kilometers from us.

Catalina will be thoroughly studied by scientists with the help of ground-based telescopes will try to get “as many information as possible about their dynamic state, rotation, composition spectra, etc., “the Spanish astronomer.

In general, comets are important because they are fossils of the formation of the solar system and contain information origin of planetary systems.

Moreover, if the comet comes from the Oort cloud, as in this case, the scientific interest is even greater because “come from a primordial cloud of the solar system and have information about their origin, “Serra-Ricart said.

Although this comet will be visible until mid-February, the best time for observation will be next week.

” In fact, you can see, but it will be much more visible as the moon disappears, the next 9, 10 and 11 January, and the 16th, when will place its perigee (nearest point to earth), “said the scientist.

To observe it, “the most important thing is to know where it is. You must use the sky chart, place it. At first glance, if it is too dark you will see a green spot, because its nucleus is greenish, and with binoculars you can see some small detail, like his two tails (an ion or gas and other dust) “, concludes and astronomer . EFE