Okay, now you know a bit about the possibilities of comets as parts of the Electric Solar System. McCanney cites all the strange weather on earth, strange behavior of the sun, that arrived in tandem with Comet Hale-Bopp. So now along comes Comet Elenin. Let's start with the likely trajectory. On the image, which came from my astronomer friend, it looks like this:
E - Earth
W - Venus
M - Mars
The little black curved line represents Mercury.
Hopefully, it should be visible somewhere around mid-August. Its closest approach to the Sun is scheduled in the first half of September. Where it will go exactly - we do not know. Since its orbit is close to the ecliptic plane, it should be visible low in the sky. Orbital parameters are yet uncertain. So far it looks harmless:
It is called Elenin since it was discovered by Leonid Elenin. I expect the internet to soon be ringing with rumors and news bytes about this comet. For now, there isn't much to say so I'm sharing what I've received in private from an astronomer at a big observatory that shall remain anonymous for the moment. He says:
- It is too early to accurately predict the future path - it's orbital parameters haven't been revised.
- Among the observable hyperbolic and parabolic comets (those that come from the Oort cloud) this one has the smallest perihelion distance and the smallest inclination to the ecliptic plane.
- Comet Elenin's orbit may be unstable as it may encounter some dark bodies, for example, in the asteroid belt or even some Taurid objects. What would happen in those cases is a matter of luck.
- This comet may carry a significant amount of material with it and if it follows the currently projected orbit, the Earth may very well pass through this material.
- If Elenin is anything like what Victor Clube or James McCanney describes, we might be in for some surprises - good or bad, who knows?
For those interested: Ephemerides of the comet C/2010 X1 Elenin
Currently, according to Nasa, the predicted trajectory can be viewed here.
Elenin's predicted brightness:
Where to look:
Interview with the discoverer:
Comets could pose a serious threat (Google Translation)
("Comets may represent a serious danger")
Comet Elenin Update!
I've received updates on Comet Elenin from the astronomical insider who shall, as I said, remain anonymous for the moment.
The first item of note is that, with the update on the orbit of Elenin, which was made on 09 Jan 11, that is 9-1-11 (interesting, no?), it is scheduled to reach perihelion on the 9th of September, that is: 9-9-11. Another interesting numerical combo.
My friend has made a nice little animation of the calculated orbit:
An interesting alignment occurs right around the autumnal equinox where we have Earth, Comet Elenin, the Sun and almost Mercury lined up like ducks.
Now, have a look at this image:
I hope you can make out the yellow line of Elenin's orbit. (Click on the image to enlarge it) In the image, Astronomical Insider has included the position of the asteroid belt as a big circle. He has also noted the position of the member of that belt, Schiela, which is the asteroid that began to develop a comet-like coma back in December. The blue ellipse is an approximation of the southern Taurid meteor stream. Something may change, of course, when the comet crosses the asteroid belt in March/April.
Stay tuned for updates!
Once again, an amazing piece of work drawn together by the worlds foremost research team, and a challenge to all of us to work toward doing something about this, to possibly help mitigate or change the circumstances we now find ourselves in. Thanks to Laura and the SOTT Team, we may have more than a 4 second warning, what we do with it is up to each and every one of us reading this. What will you do?