A comet came close to Earth on Tuesday – Le Point

On Tuesday at around 15: 30 pm, a comet named P / 2016 BA14 grazed the Earth at about 3.4 million kilometers away, or about 10 times the distance from Earth to the satellite, the moon. A distance that augured no danger, but notes however that record. Indeed, a single comet, known as of Lexell, have approached us closer July 1, 1770, about 2.3 million kilometers away.

According to experts, P / 2016 BA14, discovered on January 21 and taken initially to an asteroid, is in fact a large fragment of another comet called 252P / Linear itself passed close to Earth last night, at a distance 5.2 million kilometers.

for astronomers who are interested in these stars, the passage of P / 2016 BA14 is a real boon, since no comet had approached much of the earth for 246 years! As for the fans, if P / BA14 2016 does not look extremely bright, its parent body 252P / Linear, he is full of promise and could be visible, including to the naked eye. In the hope (or) observed from the northern hemisphere, it will not until March 25, hoping that the full moon of 23 does not come too, by its brightness, spoil the party.