News from the Natural World: Large comet headed to earth causes somewhat of a dilemma in the animal kingdom.
One of the largest comets ever seen by the animal kingdom is headed near earth. The comet is called Bernardinelli-Bernstein and is offering all animal astrologers the chance to see an object from the extreme edges of the solar system. The most recent estimates put the comet’s nucleus at about 150km wide. That’s over 125 Gazillion ants. That’s by far the biggest size estimate for a comet in decades.
Over the next decade, Bernardinelli-Bernstein will continue to get brighter as it approaches the inner solar system, dive-bombing the plane of the planets’ orbits from below. It will make its closest approach on January 21, 2031, when the comet is expected to come within about a billion miles of the sun, slightly farther away than Saturn’s average distance. It will then begin its long retreat back into the solar system’s outer realms, remaining visible into at least the 2040s, if not decades longer.
Large Comet Headed to Earth
But animals are disappointed that the comet won’t reach earth sooner. It might actually be the lesser of two evils for them. With the humans they have suffered the 6th extinction, collapse of biodiversity, climate change, plastic pollution and all-out war. Times have never been harder for the animals. Compare that with the monstrous impact of a meteor, colossal tsunamis, deadly earthquakes and ash clouds and it’s not actually that bad. At least the meteor isn’t doing it deliberately. Also, at least the meteor would wipe out most of the humans as well. The animals might actually stand a chance.