Halley’s Comet: A Source of Meteor Showers, Curiosity, and Inspiration

Hal's comet is the most famous comet in history a Celestial visitor that has fascinated and inspired humans for thousands of years it is also the only Comet that can be seen from Earth twice in a human lifetime but did you know that this weekend hi's Comet will reach the farthest point from the Sun in its orbit called aelon what does this mean for the comet and for us how can we still see its debris every year in the form of meteor showers and what are the secrets and Mysteries that this Comet holds for astronomers and scientists in this video we will explore these questions and more as we learn about the current position and distance of Hal's Comet its history and significance and the challenges and opportunities it poses for future exploration and study so stay tuned and get ready to discover the Amazing Story of hi's comet the first thing we need to know about hi's comet is its orbit unlike the planets which have nearly circular orbits around the Sun comets have highly elliptical orbits which means they have a very long and narrow shape this means that comets have two extreme points in their orbits the perihelion which is the closest point to the sun and the aelan which is the farthest point from the Sun the distance between these two points can be very large depending on the comet's eccentricity which is a measure of how stretched its orbit is for Hal's Comet the eccentricity is 0.967 which is very high meaning its orbit is very stretched this means that the comet's perhelion is about 88 million km from the sun which is closer than the orbit of Venus while its aelon is about 5.2 billion km from the sun which is beyond the orbit of Neptune that's a huge huge difference right but why does this matter well it matters because the distance from the Sun affects the comet's motion and appearance the closer the comet is to the Sun the faster it moves and the more it heats up and releases gas and dust forming a bright coma and tail the farther the comet is from the Sun the slower it moves and the less it heats up and releases gas and dust becoming dimmer and less active this means that the comet's brightness and activity vary greatly throughout its orbit and that it is only visible from Earth when it is near its perhelion as it only happens once in a human lifetime the last time this happened was in 1986 and the next time will be in 2061 but what about the aelan when does the comet reach its farthest point from the Sun and can we see it then well the answer to the first question is this weekend yes you heard that right hi's Comet will pass its aelon on December 10th 2023 which means it will reach its farthest point from the Sun in its orbit this is a rare and remarkable event which happens once every 75 to 76 years and it marks the halfway point of the comet's Journey around the Sun the answer to the second question however is no we can't see it then unfortunately the comet is too far and too dim to be seen with the naked eye or even with a telescope from Earth the only way to see it at its ailan is with a powerful space probe such as the European space agency's Rosetta which visited another comet in 2014 but even if we can't see it we can still appreciate the fact that the comet is out there in the dark and cold depths of space waiting for its next encounter with the Sun and [Music] Earth the second thing we need to know about Hal's comet is its size and shape how big is the comet and what does it look like well the comet has a nucleus which is the solid core of ice and rock and a coma which is the cloud of gas and dust that surrounds the nucleus the nucleus of hi's comet is about 15 km in diameter which is roughly the size of Manhattan Island in New York the coma however can be much larger up to 100,000 km in diameter which is about a quarter of the distance between the Earth and the moon the nucleus and the coma together form the head of the Comet which is what we usually see when we look at a comet but that's not all the comet also has a tail which is the stream of gas and dust that Trails behind the head of the Comet the tail of Hal's Comet can be up to 100 million km in length which is more than half the distance between the Earth and the Sun it is what makes the comet so bright and spectacular as it reflects and scatters the sunlight the tail is also what makes the comet so variable and unpredictable as it changes shape and Direction depending on the solar wind which is the stream of charged particles that flows from the Sun it can sometimes split into two or more parts or even disappear and reappear depending on the conditions in space but how does the comet form its tail and what is it made of well the answer is sublimation and outgassing sublim is the process by which the ice in the nucleus of the Comet turns directly into gas without passing through the liquid phase outgassing is the process by which the gas in the coma of the Comet escapes into space carrying some dust with it these processes happen when the comet gets closer to the Sun and the solar radiation and heat increase the gas and dust that are released from the comet form Jets which are like fountains or geysers that shoot out from the surface of the nucleus these Jets push the comet in the opposite direction causing it to spin and Wobble the gas and dust that are ejected from the Jets form the tail which always points away from the Sun regardless of the direction of the comet's [Music] motion the third thing we need to know about Hal's comet is its impact on science and culture why is this Comet so important and influential and what can we learn from it well the answer is a lot hi's comet is not only a beautiful and fascinating object in the sky but also a valuable and rich source of information and inspiration the comet has played a significant role in advancing our knowledge and understanding of the solar system the origin of life and the history of humanity it has also inspired our imagination and creativity as well as our curiosity and exploration one of the ways that the comet has impacted science is by generating medeor showers these are events where many meteors which are small pieces of rock or metal that burn up in the atmosphere appear in the sky at the same time meteor showers are usually caused by the debris left behind by comets as they orbit the Sun and shed gas and dust hi's comet is the source of several meteor showers such as the AA aquariids in May and the orionids in October these meteor showers are named after the constellations from which they seem to originate and they can be seen from Earth every year even when the comet is not visible they are not only beautiful and spectacular to watch but also useful and informative to study as they can tell us more about the composition and structure of the Comet and the evolution and dynamics of the solar [Music] system in this video we have learned more about Hal's Comet the farthest and the brightest comet in the sky I hope you enjoyed this video and learn something new and interesting if you did please give it a thumbs up and share it with your friends and family and if you want to learn more about this topic and other topics related to astronomy astrophysics and cosmology then please subscribe and hit the Bell icon so that you don't miss any of our upcoming videos thank you for watching and see you next time [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: NASASpaceNews

Views: 13,950

Keywords: space news, nasa, nasa space news, HalleysComet, Comet, Aphelion, Orbit, Tail, MeteorShower, Science, Astronomy, Space, Exploration, History, Culture, Legend, Myth, Curiosity, Inspiration, Sun, Earth, Venus, Neptune, Rosetta, EdmondHalley, IsaacNewton, 2061, 1986, 75years, Elliptical, Sublimation, Outgassing, Brightness

Id: ZTQJ7jEKP-g

Length: 9min 16sec (556 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 08 2023