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10 Facts Surrounding Comet Elenin Top 10 Facts Surrounding Comet Elenin Continued from Page 25 5: 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková is a short-period comet discovered in 1948. The comet has an elliptical orbit of 5.26 years and a nucleus estimated to be 0.5-1.6 kilometers in diameter. On August 15, 2011, Honda made a close approach of only 0.0600 AU (8,980,000 km; 5,580,000 mi) to Earth. On August 19, the same day that Comet Elenin was destroyed by a coronal mass ejection, Honda was studied by the Goldstone Deep Space Network. The network detected echoes from the nucleus of Honda and it became only the fifteenth comet in history to be detected by radar. After the discovery of Comet Elenin was made public, people began to examine the trajectory of the comet in relation to Honda. It appeared that the two objects would come relatively close to hitting on September 28 or 29 of 2011. For this reason, people began to fear the date and predict earthquakes and disasters for late September. Articles were written that hypothesized that the shifting of Elenin’s path could push it into Honda. 255P/Levy is another comet that was mentioned with Elenin. Levy The general rule is that NEOs have an won’t see the scraps of comet Elenin around came within 0.2359 AU (35,290,000 km; apsis distance of less than 1.3 AU. As of May these parts for almost 12 millennia.” 21,930,000 mi) of Earth on January 26, 2012. 2012, 8,971 NEOs have been discovered. Of With all the controversy surrounding these, only 91 are near-Earth comets and 8,880 Elenin, the unusual destruction of the comet has 4: 2005 YU55 near-Earth Asteroids. This makes the discovery caused a lasting image. In the week prior to the coronal mass ejection, articles were posted of Comet Elenin rare. Even rarer is how close Meteors are generated when debris the remnants of the comet came to Earth on online that suggested the European Space enters and burns up in Earth’s atmosphere. October 16, 2011. It passed at a distance of Agency had a plan to destroy an asteroid headed Some astronomers have reported that meteor 0.2338 AU, which is really close in comparison toward Earth. Specifically, the website of the swarms correspond closely to the orbits of to other famous comets of size. Daily Mail posted an article titled Fact known comets. Meteor showers are not A number of smaller asteroids have following fiction? Scientists plan mission to threatening to the Earth because the comet’s tail made closer approaches. One of importance was blow up an asteroid hurtling towards Earth. The usually doesn’t hold large objects. On asteroid 2010 AL30, which passed by Earth on article was last updated on August 18, 2011, one December 28, 2005, a potentially hazardous January 13, 2010 at the distance of 122,000 km day before Elenin was destroyed. It discussed asteroid was discovered by Robert S. McMillan (76,000 mi). AL30 was only 10-15 m (33-49 ft) the Don Quijote space probe. The probe could and named 2005 YU55. It is approximately 400 wide, but if the asteroid had entered the Earth’s be used to study the effects of crashing a m (1,312 feet) in diameter and caused concern atmosphere, it would have created an air burst spacecraft into an asteroid. for NASA. equivalent to between 50 kT and 100 kT On November 8, 2011, YU55 passed by (kilotons of TNT). The Hiroshima “Little Boy” 1: Stance of NASA Earth at a lunar distance of 324,900 kilometers atom bomb had a yield between 13-18kT. This (201,883 miles). It was the closest pass by a shows how important it is to keep comets of any NASA has released a collection of large asteroid since 1976. Another object this size away from the Earth’s atmosphere. statements regarding Comet Elenin. In each size in not predicted to come this close to Earth case, the organization has downplayed the until 2028. After Comet Elenin started to gain 2: The Destruction of Elenin importance of the object and its potential impact attention, people began to connect it with 2005 By August, 2011, the visibility of Comet on Earth. After the comet was destroyed in YU55 because of the date November 9, 2011 Elenin was around 8.3. The comet followed the space, Don Yeomans of NASA said: “I cannot (11/9/11). On this date, the tail of Elenin was predictions of NASA until August 19, 2011, begin to guess why this little comet became predicted to be the closest to Earth, along with when it was destroyed by a coronal mass such a big Internet sensation. The scientific 2005 YU55. This has caused some people to ejection (CME). A coronal mass ejection is a reality is this modest-sized icy dirtball’s speculate that a collision between the two massive burst of solar wind. During the event, influence upon our planet is so incredibly objects was possible. Comet Elenin disintegrated and broke apart. minuscule that my subcompact automobile exerts a greater gravitational influence on earth According to NASA officials, it was a rare than the comet ever would.” 3: General Significance occurrence and only 2% of new comets that Yeomans explains how the destruction After Comet Elenin was discovered, approach the sun are destroyed in this manner. of the comet was a rare, but possible: “comets many people expected the story to be mentioned By mid-October 2011, Elenin made its closest are fragile and loosely held together like dust in the mainstream U.S. media, but it wasn’t. pass to Earth, but was nothing more than a pile balls, so it doesn’t take much to get a comet to This caused some to suspect that NASA was of rubble. The object was not visible by even disintegrate, and with comets, once they break keeping secrets. The general significance of large ground-based telescopes. up, there is no hope of reconciliation.” The Comet Elenin was large. In the United States, The post-disintegration appearance of stance of NASA is that they don’t want to talk NASA has a congressional mandate to Elenin was compared to the debris field of about Elenin because it doesn’t deserve mention catalogue all near-Earth objects that are at least Shoemaker-Levy 9, which was abundant. The in comparison to other problems. Yeoman is 1 kilometer wide. The impact of such an object remnants of the comet will “act as other broken- quoted: “Comet Elenin has rung down the would be catastrophic to Earth. Studies show up comets act. They will trail along in a debris curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is an that the United States and China are most cloud that will follow a well-understood path ex-comet.” [] vulnerable areas to meteor strikes. out of the inner solar system. After that, we