I Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein enters inner solar system

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Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein (C/2014 UN271) is a significant discovery due to its large and bright nucleus, making it the largest well-measured comet to date. It is approaching from the Oort cloud and will reach its closest point to the Sun (perihelion) in 2031, with no impact on Earth's orbit expected. Observations indicate it has a diameter of approximately 150 km, with brightness fluctuations and a growing coma as it nears the Sun. The comet's activity suggests sublimation of surface materials like CO2 and NH3, while more volatile compounds appear to be scarce. This comet is anticipated to be a noteworthy celestial event in the coming years.
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An Oort cloud comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein will be arriving soon.
I start this thread about a comet that probably (hopefully) will be of common interest in the coming months (or years). And, no, Earth orbit will not be affected.

##C/2014 UN271## (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) is a comet incoming from the Oort cloud which is remarkable in having the brightest (and presumably largest) nucleus of any well-measured comet, and having been discovered at heliocentric distance ##r_h \approx 29 \;\operatorname{au}##, farther than any Oort-cloud member. We describe in this work the discovery process and observations, and the properties that can be inferred from images recorded until the first reports of activity in June ##2021.## The orbit has ## i = 95°##, with perihelion of ##10.97\;\operatorname{au}## to be reached in ##2031,## and previous aphelion at ##40, 400 \pm 260\;\operatorname{au}.## Backwards integration of the orbit under a standard Galactic tidal model and known stellar encounters suggests this is a pristine new comet, with a perihelion of ##q \approx 18\;\operatorname{au}## on its previous perihelion passage ##3.5\;\operatorname{Myr}## ago. The photometric data show an unresolved nucleus with absolute magnitude ##H_r = 8.0,## colors that are typical of comet nuclei or Damocloids, and no secular trend as it traversed the range ##34–23\;\operatorname{au}##. For ##r##-band geometric albedo ##p_r##, this implies a diameter of ##150\,(p_r/0.04)−0.5 \;\operatorname{km}.## There is strong evidence of brightness fluctuations at ##\pm 0.2## mag level, but no rotation period can be discerned. A coma, nominally consistent with a "stationary" ##1/\rho## surface-brightness distribution, grew in scattering cross-section at an exponential rate from ##Afρ \approx 1\; m## to ##\approx 150\; m## as the comet approached from ##28## to ##20\;\operatorname{au}.## The activity rate is consistent with a very simple model of sublimation of a surface species in radiative equilibrium with the Sun. The inferred enthalpy of sublimation matches those of ##CO_2## and ##NH_3##. More-volatile species such as ##N_2##, ##CH_4##, and ##CO## must be far less abundant on the sublimating surfaces.
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2109.09852.pdf
 
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Hopefully it won't be a dud like the green comet this past (Northern Hemisphere) winter.
 
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